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INTERNA  TI ONAL    ED  U  CA  TION    SERIES 


THE  MIND  OF  THE  CHILD 
PART  I 

THE    SENSES    AND 
THE    WILL 


OBSEE  VA  TIONS    CONCERNING 

THE  MENTAL  DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  HUMAN  BEING 

IN  THE  FIRST  YEARS  OF  LIFE 


BY 
W.    PREYER 

PROFESSOR     OF    PHYSIOLOGY     IN     JENA 

TRANSLATED    FROM    THE    ORIGINAL   GERMAN 

By    B.  W.   BROWN 

TEAOIIEK    IN    THE    8TATE    NORMAL    SCHOOL     AT    WORCESTER,    MASS. 


NEW  YORK 

D.    APPLETON    AND    COMPANY 

1895 


Copyright,  1888, 
By  D.   APPLETON   AND  COMPANY. 


EDITOR'S  PREFACE. 


A  careful  study  of  this  work  will  do  much  to  put 
one  in  possession  of  the  method  of  studying  mental 
growth  in  children.  Parents  and  teachers  will  find  this 
method  of  observation  invaluable,  inasmuch  as  it  will 
make  experience  constantly  profitable. 

Experience,  it  is  true,  marshals  its  train  of  facts  be- 
fore us  in  an  endless  succession  every  day  of  our  lives. 
But,  without  scientific  method,  one  fact  does  much  to 
obliterate  all  others  by  its  presence.  Out  of  sight,  they 
are  out  of  mind.  Method  converts  unprofitable  experi- 
ence, wherein  nothing  abides  except  vague  and  uncertain 
surmise,  into  science.  In  science  the  present  fact  is 
deprived  of  its  ostentatious  and  all-absorbing  interest, 
by  the  act  of  relating  it  to  all  other  facts.  We  classify 
the  particular  with  its  fellow-particulars  and  it  takes  its 
due  rank.  Such  classification,  moreover,  eliminates  from 
it  the  unessential  elements. 

The  method  of  science,  as  Herbart  pointed  out 
involves  the  ascertainment  and  fixing  of  quantitative 
relations.  "  Every  theory,"  says  he,  "  to  admit  of  com- 
parison with  experience,  must  be  developed  until  the 
same  embodies  the  modifications  of  quantity  found  in 
that  experience."  * 

*  See  "  Journal  of  Speculative  Philosophy,"  vol.  xi,  p.  251,  J. 
F.  Herbart  on  the  application  of  mathematics  to  psychology. 


vi  EDITOR'S   FREFACE. 

The  characteristics  of  accuracy  and  precision  which 
make  science  exact  are  derived  from  quantity.  Fix  the 
order  of  succession,  the  date,  the  duration,  the  locality, 
the  environment,  the  extent  of  the  sphere  of  influence, 
the  number  of  manifestations,  and  the  number  of  cases 
of  interim ttence,  and  you  have  exact  knowledge  of  a 
phenomenon.  When  stated  in  quantitative  terms,  your 
experience  is  useful  to  other  observers.  It  is  easy  to 
verify  it  or  to  add  an  increment.  By  quantification, 
science  grows  and  grows  continually,  without  retrograde 
movements. 

One  does  not  forget,  of  course,  that  there  is  some- 
thing besides  the  quantitative  and  altogether  above  the 
quantitative.  The  object  itself  is  more  important  than 
its  quantitative  relations.  The  soul  as  a  self-active 
essence  is  the  object  in  psychology.  Science  determines 
the  quantitative  relations  of  its  phenomenal  manifesta- 
tion. In  other  words,  science  determines  exactly  the 
time  when,  the  place  where,  the  duration  and  frequency, 
the  extent  and  degree  of  the  manifestation  of  this  self- 
activity  in  the  body  and  through  the  body. 

The  nature  of  feelings,  volitions,  and  ideas  in  them- 
selves, is  the  object  of  introspective  psychology  and 
metaphysics.  But  all  will  concede  that  parents  and 
teachers  are  directly  interested  in  the  order  of  develop- 
ment of  the  soul  from  its  lower  functions  into  its  higher 
ones,  and  are  consequently  concerned  with  these  quan- 
titative manifestations. 

The  author's  comparisons  between  the  steps  of  prog- 
ress in  the  child  and  the  same  in  other  animals  consti- 
tute one  of  the  most  valuable  features  in  this  book. 

It  is  worth  repeating  that  the  supreme  interest  to  us 


EDITOR'S   PREFACE.  y\[ 

in  these  observations  is  the  development  from  lower 
degrees  of  intelligence  to  higher  ones.  The  immense 
interval  that  separates  plant  life  from  animal  life  is 
almost  paralleled  by  the  interval  between  the  animal 
and  the  human  being.  From  mere  nutrition  to  sensa- 
tion is  a  great  step ;  from  mere  sensation  to  the  con-  ] 
scious  employment  of  ethical  ideas  and  the  perception 
of  logical  necessity  and  universality,  is  an  equal  step. 
Yet  it  is  to  be  assumed  that  the  transitions  exist  in  all  de- 
grees, and  that  the  step  from  any  degree  to  the  next  one  is 
not  difficult  when  the  natural  means  is  discovered.  It  is 
this  means  that  comparative  psychology  is  discovering. 

The  infant  is  contemplated  in  the  process  of  gaining 
command  over  himself.  His  sense-organs  gradually 
become  available  for  perception  ;  his  muscles  become 
controllable  by  his  will.  Each  new  acquisition  becomes 
in  turn  an  instrument  of  further  progress. 

Exact  science  determines  when  and  where  the  ani- 
mal phase  leaves  off  and  the  purely  human  begins — 
where  the  organic  phase  ends  and  the  individual  begins. 
The  discrimination  of  impulsive,  reflexive,  and  instinct- 
ive movements,  all  of  them  organic,  throws  light  on 
the  genesis  of  mind  out  of  its  lower  antecedent.  Imita- 
tion is  the  first  manifestation  of  the  transition  from  the 
organic  to  the  strictly  spiritual. 

In  this  connection  it  is,  before  all,  an  important  ques- 
tion, "What  is  the  significance  of  the  relapse  into  uncon- 
scious instinct  through  the  formation  of  habit  ?  We  do 
an  act  by  great  special  effort  of  the  will  and  intellect ; 
we  repeat  it  until  it  is  done  with  ease.  It  gradually 
lapses  into  unconscious  use  and  wont,  and  has  become 
instinctive  and  organic.     We  need  not  suggest  the  bear- 


Viii  EDITOR'S   PREFACE. 

ing  of  this  question  on  education,  which  deals  so  much 
with  the  formation  of  habits,  and  yet  seems  to  aim 
always  at  bringing  to  consciousness  in  the  pupil  all  of 
his  unconscious  presuppositions.  Education  deals  in 
explanations.  It  exhumes  for  the  individual  his  social 
history,  his  cosmical  evolution,  and  sets  before  him  in  a 
systematic  form  the  logical  structure  of  his  thinking,  of 
his  language,  of  his  ethical  and  sesthetical  motives.  It 
turns  his  attention  through  mathematics  upon  the  neces- 
sary forms  which  all  phenomena  assume.  Everywhere 
education  proceeds  from  the  particular  being  before  the 
senses  to  the  general  form  of  its  existence,  and  drags 
into  consciousness  what  has  been  hitherto  merely  organic 
— involved  and  implied  but  unperceived.  Education, 
in  fact,  lifts  us  to  the  contemplation  of  the  universal 
in  each  individual.  Then  by  the  aid  of  general  ideas 
we  are  able  to  recall  the  particular  facts,  or  drop  them 
out  of  sight,  at  our  pleasure.  Learning  by  science 
to  comprehend  principles — which  may  be  defined  as 
energies  moving  according  to  their  own  laws — we  be- 
come independent  of  memory  to  a  great  degree,  and  may 
let  the  instances  which  formed  our  ladder  of  discovery 
drop  away.  We  thus  arrive  at  what  the  School-men 
called  the  angelic  form  of  knowing. 

The  work  of  Professor  Preyer  before  us  contains 
three  parts,  respectively  devoted  to  (a)  the  develop- 
ment of  the  senses,  (b)  the  will,  and  (c)  the  intellect. 
Parts  first  and  second  are  contained  in  this  volume ;  and 
part  third,  with  three  appendices,  forms  a  second  vol' 
ume,  to  follow  immediately. 

William  T.  Hakris. 
Concord,  Mass.,  February,  1888. 


AUTHOR'S  PREFACE  TO  THE  FIRST  EDITION. 


I  proposed  to  myself  a  number  of  years  ago,  the 
task  of  studying  the  child,  both  before  birth  and  in 
the  period  immediately  following,  from  the  physiologi- 
cal point  of  view,  with  the  object  of  arriving  at  an  ex- 
planation of  the  origin  of  the  separate  vital  processes. 
It  was  soon  apparent  to  me  that  a  division  of  the  work 
would  be  advantageous  to  its  prosecution.  For  life  in 
the  embryo  is  so  essentially  different  a  thing  from  life 
beyond  it,  that  a  separation  must  make  it  easier  both  for 
the  investigator  to  do  his  work  and  for  the  reader  to 
follow  the  exposition  of  its  results.  I  have,  therefore, 
discussed  by  itself,  life  before  birth,  the  "  Physiology 
of  the  Embryo."  The  vital  phenomena  of  the  human 
being  in  the  earliest  period  of  his  independent  exist- 
ence in  the  world  are,  again,  so  complicated  and  so  vari- 
ous in  kind,  that  here  too  a  division  soon  appeared  ex- 
pedient. I  separated  the  physical  development  of  the 
newly-born  and  the  very  young  child  from  his  mental 
development,  and  have  endeavored  to  describe  the  latter 
in  the  present  book ;  at  least,  I  hope  that,  by  means  of 
personal  observations  carried  on  for  several  years,  I 
have  furnished  facts  that  may  serve  as  material  for  a 
future  description. 


X  AUTHOR'S   PREFACE   TO   TIIE   FIRST   EDITION. 

A  forerunner  of  the  work  is  a  lecture,  "  Psycho- 
genesis  "  (the  Genesis  of  Mind),  given  before  a  scientific 
association  at  Berlin  on  the  3d  of  January,  1880,  and 
soon  after  made  public  *  in  my  book,  "  Naturwissen- 
schaftliche  Thatsachen  und  Probleme "  ("  Facts  and 
Problems  of  Natural  Science")  Berlin,  1880. 

This  sketch  has  given  manifold  incitement  to  fresh 
observations.  But  great  as  is  the  number  of  occasional 
observations  in  regard  to  many  children,  I  do  not  thus 
far  know  of  diaries  regularly  kept  concerning  the 
mental  development  of  individual  children.  Now  pre- 
cisely this  chronological  investigation  of  mental  prog- 
ress in  the  first  and  second  years  of  life  presents  great 
difficulties,  because  it  requires  the  daily  registering  of 
experiences  that  can  be  had  only  in  the  nursery.  I 
have,  notwith standing,  kept  a  complete  diary  from  the 
birth  of  my  son  to  the  end  of  his  third  year.  Occupy- 
ing myself  with  the  child  at  least  three  times  a  day — at 
morning,  noon,  and  evening — and  almost  every  day, 
with  two  trifling  interruptions,  and  guarding  him,  as  far 
as  possible,  against  such  training  as  children  usually  re- 
ceive, I  found  nearly  every  day  some  fact  of  mental 
genesis  to  record.  The  substance  of  that  diary  has 
passed  into  this  book. 

No  doubt  the  development  of  one  child  is  rapid  and 
that  of  another  is  slow  ;  very  great  individual  differ- 
ences appear  in  children  of  the  same  parents  even,  but 
the  differences  are  much  more  of  time  and  degree  than 
of  the  order  in  which  the  steps  are  taken,  and  these 

*  See  Jour.  Spec.  Philos.  for  April.  1881,  for  an  English  transla- 
tion of  this  lecture  of  Professor  Preyer. — Ed. 


AUTHOR'S   PREFACE   TO   THE   FIRST   EDITION.  xi 

steps  are  the  same  in  all  individuals  ;  that  is  the  im- 
portant matter.  Desirable  as  it  is  to  collect  statistics 
concerning  the  mental  development  of  many  infants — 
the  activity  of  their  senses,  their  movements,  especially 
their  acquirement  of  speech — yet  the  accurate,  daily 
repeated  observation  of  one  child — a  child  sound  in 
health,  having  no  brothers  or  sisters,  and  whose  devel- 
opment was  neither  remarkably  rapid  nor  remarkably 
slow — seemed  at  least  quite  as  much  to  be  desired.  I 
have,  however,  taken  notice,  as  far  as  possible,  of  the 
experiences  of  others  in  regard  to  other  normal  children 
in  the  first  years  of  life,  and  have  even  compared  many 
of  these  where  opportunity  offered. 

But  a  description  of  the  gradual  appearance  of  brain- 
activity  in  the  child,  along  with  the  most  careful  obser- 
vation of  Ms  mental  ripening,  would  be  only  a  begin- 
ning. The  development  of  mind,  like  the  development 
of  body,  must  be  regarded  as  dating  back  far  beyond 
the  origin  of  the  individual  being. 

If  the  infant  brings  into  the  world  a  set  of  organs 
which  begin  to  be  active  only  after  a  long  time,  and  are 
absolutely  useless  up  to  that  time — as,  e.  g.,  the  lungs 
were  before  birth — then  the  question,  To  what  causes  do 
such  organs  and  functions  owe  their  existence?  can  have 
but  one  answer — heredity. 

This,  to  be  sure,  explains  nothing ;  but  dim  as  the 
notion  is,  much  is  gained  toward  our  understanding  of 
the  matter,  in  the  fact  that  some  functions  are  inherited 
while  others  are  not. 

What  is  acquired  by  experience  is  only  a  part.  The 
question  whether  a  function  of  the  brain,  on  which 
everything  depends  in  the  development  of  the  child's 


xii  AUTHOR'S   PREFACE   TO   THE   FIRST   EDITION. 

mind,  is  inherited  or  acquired,  must  be  answered  in  each 
individual  case,  if  we  would  not  go  astray  in  the  laby- 
rinth of  appearances  and  hypotheses. 

Above  all,  we  must  be  clear  on  this  point,  that  the 
fundamental  activities  of  mind,  which  are  manifested 
only  after  birth,  do  not  originate  after  birth. 

If  they  had  previous^  no  existence  at  all,  we  could 
not  discover  whence  they  come  or  at  what  time.  The 
substance  of  a  hen's  egg  that  has  been  fecundated,  but 
is  frozen  as  hard  as  a  stone,  certainly  has  no  sensation ; 
but  after  thawing  and  three  weeks'  warming,  that  same 
substance,  changed  into  a  living  chicken,  has  sensation. 

The  capacity  of  feeling,  in  case  of  the  fulfillment  of 
certain  outward  conditions,  if  it  be  not  a  property  of  the 
egg,  must  have  originated  during  incubation  from  mat- 
ter incapable  of  sentiency  ;  that  is,  the  material  atoms 
must  not  only  have  arranged  themselves  in  a  different 
order,  receiving  through  their  union  and  separation  dif- 
ferent chemical  properties,  as  actually  happens ;  must 
not  only  have  changed  their  physical  properties — e.  g., 
elasticity,  solidity,  etc.,  which  are  partly  dependent  on 
the  chemical,  partly  independent  of  them — as  likewise 
happens ;  but  these  atoms  must  have  gained  entirely 
new  properties  which  were  neither  chemically  nor 
physically  indicated  beforehand,  were  not  to  be  assumed 
or  predicated.  For  neither  chemistry  nor  physics  can 
attribute  to  the  substances  that  constitute  the  egg  other 
than  chemical  and  physical  properties.  But  if  the 
warming,  ventilation,  evaporation,  and  liberation  of 
carbonic  acid  have  had  their  normal  course  during 
incubation,  then  these  new  mental  properties  present 
themselves,  and   that  without  the   possibility  of   their 


AUTHOR'S  PREFACE   TO   THE  FIRST  EDITION.        xiii 

being  gained  by  imitation  in  the  incubator.  And 
these  properties  are  similar  to  those  of  the  beings  that 
produced  the  egg.  Hence,  it  must  be  admitted  that 
these  beings  have  imparted  to  the  egg  matter  which 
contained,  in  addition  to  the  known  or  physically  and 
chemically  discoverable  properties,  latent  properties  not 
chemically  and  physically  discoverable — psychical,  there- 
fore, physiological — these  being  potential,  so  that  warm- 
ing, airing,  etc.,  are  necessary  to  their  development. 
The  same  conditions  are  required  for  the  development 
of  the  tissues  and  organs  of  the  embryo,  which  likewise 
were  not  contained  in  the  albumen,  sugar,  and  fat,  in  the 
water  and  the  salts  of  the  egg ;  neither  do  their  prop- 
erties belong  to  those  with  which  chemistry  and  physics 
are  concerned,  but  they  are  like  those  of  the  generators 
of  the  egg. 

Some  parts  of  the  contents  of  the  egg,  then,  possess 
potentially  properties  unquestionably  mental — the  ca- 
pacity of  sensation,  at  least.  And  these  parts  must,  at 
the  same  time,  be  those  from  which  originate  the  coty- 
ledons (of  plants'),  the  foundation  of  the  embryo.  As 
is  well  known,  they  are  cellular  forms  with  the  power 
of  independent  movement,  to  which  can  not  be  denied, 
any  more  than  to  the  lowest  zoophytes,  the  capacity  of 
discrimination.  They  grow  and  move  by  putting  out 
and  drawing  in  pseudopodia ;  *  they  undoubtedly  appro- 
priate nourishment,  require  oxygen,  multiply  by  divis- 
ion, conduct  themselves  in  general  like  amoebce,  or  other 
simple  living  beings.     The  opinion  that  they  possess  a 


*  Filaments  thrust  out  from  any  part  of  the  body,  serving  as  or- 
gans of  locomotion. 


xiv         AUTHOR'S   PREFACE   TO   THE   FIRST   EDITION. 

certain  crude  psychical  endowment,  sensation  of  an  ob- 
scure sort,  can  not  be  refuted. 

Everything  goes  to  show  a  continuity  in  the  capacity 
of  sensation.  This  capacity  does  not  spring  afresh  each 
time  in  the  human  being  out  of  material  incapable  of 
sensation,  but,  as  a  hereditary  property  of  the  parts  of 
the  egg,  is  differentiated  in  these,  and  by  stimulus  from 
without  is  brought  into  action — the  process  being  hardly 
discernible  in  the  embryo  protected  from  this  stimulus, 
but  plainly  visible  in  the  new-born  child. 

The  mind  of  the  new-born  child,  then,  does  not  re- 
semble a  tabula  rasa,  upon  which  the  senses  first  write 
their  impressions,  so  that  out  of  these  the  sum-total  of 
our  mental  life  arises  through  manifold  reciprocal  ac- 
tion, but  the  tablet  is  already  written  upon  before  birth, 
with  many  illegible,  nay,  unrecognizable  and  invisible, 
marks,  the  traces  of  the  imprint  of  countless  sensuous 
impressions  of  long-gone  generations.  So  blurred  and 
indistinct  are  these  remains,  that  we  might,  indeed,  sup- 
pose the  tablet  to  be  blank,  so  long  as  we  did  not  exam- 
ine the  changes  it  undergoes  in  earliest  youth.  But  the 
more  attentively  the  child  is  observed,  the  more  easily 
legible  becomes  the  writing,  not  at  first  to  be  under- 
stood, that  he  brings  with  him  into  the  world.  Then 
we  perceive  what  a  capital  each  individual  has  inherited 
from  his  ancestors — how  much  there  is  that  is  not  pro- 
duced by  sense-impressions,  and  how  false  is  the  suppo- 
sition that  man  learns  to  feel,  to  will,  and  to  think, 
only  through  his  senses.  Heredity  is  just  as  important 
as  individual  activity  in  the  genesis  of  mind.  No  man 
is  in  this  matter  a  mere  upstart,  who  is  to  achieve  the 
development  of  his  mind  (Psyche)  through  his  individ- 


AUTHOR'S  PREFACE   TO   THE   FIRST   EDITION.         xv 

ual  experience  alone ;  rather  must  each  one,  by  means  of 
his  experience,  fill  out  and  animate  anew  his  inherited 
endowments,  the  remains  of  the  experiences  and  activi- 
ties of  his  ancestors. 

It  is  hard  to  discern  and  to  decipher  the  mysterious 
writing  on  the  mind  of  the  child.  It  is  just  that  which 
constitutes  a  chief  problem  of  this  book. 

Preyer. 

Jena,  October  6,  1881. 


AUTHOR'S  PREFACE  TO  THE  SECOND  EDITION. 


The  first  edition  of  this  book  appeared  in  October, 
1881.  Just  two  years  afterward,  a  second  became  ne- 
cessary. This  differs  from  the  former  chiefly  in  abbre- 
viation of  the  statements  coming  from  other  persons, 
and  not  indispensable  ;  in  improvements  in  form  ;  in  a 
more  careful  and  exact  formulation  of  general  conclu- 
sions ;  and  in  a  considerable  enlargement  of  the  material 
of  facts  in  support  of  these  conclusions.  In  respect  to 
the  last  point,  the  communications  that  have  come  to 
me  by  letter,  from  the  most  various  sources,  have  been 
of  great  value. 

To  all  those  who  have  gratified  me  by  sending  their 
observations  concerning  the  mental  development  of  the 
child  during  his  earliest  years,  I  here  express  my  thanks 
for  the  interest  they  have  taken  in  my  presentation,  and 
for  the  help  they  have  afforded  me  in  the  laborious 
work. 

The  mental  life  of  the  human  being  is,  in  fact,  so 
hard  to  investigate  in  its  development,  that  very  many 
persons  must  co-operate  in  the  work  ;  the  individual  can 
oversee  but  little  of  it.  The  evolution  of  the  mind 
resembles  a  stream  into  which  no  one  descends  twice. 
Like   that,  it  issues   from   obscure   depths  as  a  clear 


AUTHOR'S  PREFACE   TO   THE  SECOND   EDITION.      xvij 

spring ;  the  water  trickles  but  scantily  at  first  into  the 
light  of  day,  and  gathers  slowly  and  in  stillness  to  a 
murmuring  brook.  Soon,  however,  its  waves  beat  with 
increasing  movement  against  the  banks.  The  bottom  is 
no  longer  clearly  visible.  Farther  on,  foaming  gorges 
pour  themselves  into  the  still  clear,  but  agitated  waters, 
which  only  the  solid  rocks  can  restrain.  In  like  man- 
ner self-will  breaks  against  the  resisting  order  of  the 
world.  When,  at  length,  the  torrent  has  victoriously 
opened  its  path  in  the  mountains,  and  has  adapted  itself 
to  its  environment,  then  it  hastens  on,  sometimes  spark- 
ling and  smooth,  sometimes  roaring  powerfully,  as  if, 
like  the  turbulent  boy,  it  would  reach  distant  goals,  and 
yet  would  chug  to  the  heart  of  the  mother,  to  moderate 
the  spring-tide  of  the  gushing  life. 

At  last,  mirror-like  in  its  calmness,  powerfully  dis- 
pensing blessings  and  diffusing  life,  it  becomes  master 
of  itself,  and  loses  itself  in  the  ocean  out  of  which  it 
once  arose. 

Throughout  the  whole  course,  from  the  spring  to  the 
river's  mouth,  the  spectator  sees  the  flow,  sees  the  before 
and  the  after ;  he  knows,  too,  that  it  is  the  same  ele- 
ments that  are  hastening  forward,  though  often  united 
with  new  ones,  and  becoming  changed ;  that  many  of 
these,  indeed,  pass  oil  into  vapor,  but  the  river  is  ever 
the  same.  So  is  it  also  with  the  mind.  From  birth  to 
death,  the  play  of  its  waves  does  not  cease ;  new  im- 
pressions are  mingled  with  old  ones,  many  are  forgotten 
and  changed,  yet  the  individuality  remains  to  the  last, 
and  before  the  self  (Ich)  has  come  to  the  knowledge, 
whither  the  restless  hastening  forward  is  really  leading, 
the  hastening  is  at  an  end. 


Xviii    AUTHOR'S  PREFACE   TO  THE   SECOND   EDITION. 

Thus,  the  highest  questions  of  themselves  press  upon 
the  observer  of  the  child,  upon  the  physiologist  and  the 
philosopher,  the  teacher  and  the  educator,  the  physician 
and  the  psychologist,  the  philanthropist  and  the  pastor, 
in  the  joyous  form  of  the  smiling,  rosy  face  of  the 
child,  but  at  the  same  time  these  questions  are  as  im- 
penetrable as  is  in  general  the  great  mystery  of  be- 
coming and  of  ceasing  to  be. 

The  Author. 
Jena,  April  28,  1884. 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

Preface  by  the  Editor v 

Preface  to  First  Edition ix 

Preface  to  Second  Edition xvi 

Introduction  by  Professor  G.  Stanley  Hall       .        .        .  xxi 

FIRST  PART. 

DEVELOPMENT   OF   THE  SENSES. 

CHAPTER 

I. — Sight 2 

Sensibility  to  Light,  2.  Discrimination  of  Colors,  6. 
Movements  of  the  Eyelids,  22.  Movements  of  the  Eyes, 
34.  Direction  of  the  Look,  41.  Seeing  Near  and  Dis- 
tant Objects,  50.  Interpretation  of  what  is  Seen,  60. 
Sight  in  New-Born  Animals,  66. 
II.— Hearing 72 

Deafness  of  the  Newly-Born,  72.     First   Sensations 
and  Perceptions  of  Sound,  76.     Hearing  in  New-Born 
Animals,  91. 
III.— Feeling  (or  Touch) 96 

Sensibility  of  the  Newly-Born  to  Contact,  96.     First 
Perceptions  of  Touch,  108.      Sensibility  to  Tempera- 
ture, 111. 
IV.— Taste 116 

Sensibility  to  Taste  in  the  Newly-Born,  116.     Com- 
parison   of  the  Impressions  of  Taste,  123.      Taste  in 
New-Born  Animals,  127. 
V— Smell 130 

Capacity  of  Smell  in  the  Newly-Born,  130.  Discrimi- 
nation of  Impressions  of  Smell,  133.  Smell  in  New- 
Born  Animals,  136. 


xx  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

VI. — Earliest  Organic  Sensations  and  Emotions       .        .  140 
Feelings  of  Pleasure   in   General,  141.      Unpleasant 
Feelings  in  General,  146.    Feeling  of  Hunger,  152.    Feel- 
ing of  Satiety,  157.    Feeling  of  Fatigue,  158.     Fear,  164. 
Astonishment,  172. 
VII. — Summary  of  General  Results 17G 


SECOND  PART. 

DEVELOPMENT   OF    WILL. 

VIII. — Movements  of  the  Child  as  Expressions  of  Will     .  188 
Recognition  of  the  Child's  Will,  188.    Classification 
of  the  Child's  Movements,  195. 

IX. — Impulsive  Movements 201 

X. — Reflex  Movements 211 

XL — Instinctive  Movements 235 

Instinctive  Movements  of  New-Born  Animals,  235. 
Development  of  the  Power  of  Seizing,  241.  Sucking, 
Biting,  Chewing,  Tooth-Grinding,  Licking,  257.  Hold- 
ing the  Head,  263.  Learning  to  Sit,  267.  Learning  to 
Stand,  269.     Learning  to  Walk,  271. 

XII. — Imitative  Movements 282 

XIII. — Expressive  Movements 293 

The  first  Smiling  and  Laughing,  294.  Pouting  of  the 
Lips,  301.  Kissing,  304.  Crying  and  Wrinkling  of  the 
Forehead,  307.  Shaking  the  Head  and  Nodding,  311. 
Shrugging  the  Shoulders,  317.  Begging  with  the  Hands, 
and  Pointing,  318. 

XIV. — Deliberate  Movements 325 

XV.— Summary  of  General  Results 334 


INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  AMERICAN  EDITION. 


If  one  would  train  and  break  horses,  however  un- 
manageable, like  Willis  J.  Powel,  who  perhaps  ex- 
celled all  others  in  this  art  before  or  since,  he  must,  like 
him,  study  long  and  patiently  the  nature  of  the  horse. 
If  one  would  raise  sheep  with  greatest  success,  he  must, 
like  the  English  herdsman  who  said  that  he  and  his 
family  were  Cotswold  people  and  knew  nothing  what- 
ever of  South  clowns,  serve  a  long  apprenticeship  in 
learning  the  habits,  instincts,  and  all  the  conditions  that 
affect  sheep  development  favorably  or  unfavorably. 
The  principle  has  long  been  a  commonplace  with  breed- 
ers and  trainers  of  domestic  animals,  although  many 
naturalists  now  believe  that  for  him  who  will  long  and 
patiently  study  and  think  and  feel  his  way  down  and 
back  into  the  soul  of  a  particular  animal,  there  are  pos- 
sibilities both  of  scientific  discovery  and  of  control  and 
modification  of  brute  instinct  undreamed  of  before. 
The  trained  agent  of  charity  organizations,  who  la- 
bors among  the  poor,  must  prepare  himself  for  effi- 
ciency by  careful  study  of  the  way  in  which  individual 
poor  people,  and  even  beggars,  think,  feel,  live,  and  act. 
The  modern  prison-keeper  studies  criminals  till  he  be- 
comes an  expert  in  the  psychology  of  crime.     The  mis- 


xxii      INTRODUCTION   TO  THE   AMERICAN   EDITION. 

sionary  first  studies  the  existing  beliefs  and  superstitions 
of  the  savage  races  among  whom  he  is  to  labor,  or,  if 
not,  his  work  is  but  little  more  effective  than  if  he  did 
not  take  the  trouble  to  learn  their  language. 

Teachers  as  a  rule  do  not  study  the  nature  of  the 
children  they  instruct  in  any  such  way,  and  that  for  the 
following  reasons  :  First,  their  business,  as  too  often 
viewed,  is  not  to  educate  or  unfold,  a  process  to  which 
all  have  a  right,  but  to  instruct,  or  infuse  set  courses  and 
sums  of  information  to  which  the  nature  of  the  child 
may  or  may  not  have  a  right.  Secondly,  many  think 
they  have  all  the  knowledge  of  childhood  they  require, 
from  memory  of  their  own  childish  years.  This  is 
wrong.  Mental  and  moral  growth  necessarily  involves 
increasing  oblivion  of  everything  of  childhood  save 
mere  incidents,  and  even  these  are,  other  things  being 
equal,  remembered  inversely  as  the  degree  of  develop- 
ment to  fullness  of  maturity.  What  remains  from  this 
source  often  misleads  and  has  no  regulative  value  for 
the  teacher.  Thirdly,  many  think  a  course  in  a  text- 
book in  psychology  supplies  this  need.  This  is  prob- 
ably the  gravest  mistake  of  all.  All  such  books  1  know 
are  far  too  abstract  and  schematic,  too  much  devoted  to 
definition  or  in  some  cases  even  controversy,  too  com- 
monplace and  traditional  in  their  subject-matter,  so  as 
to  be  sometimes  an  impediment  to  the  fine  tact  and 
instinct  that,  in  minds  of  finest  fiber,  divine,  perhaps 
half  unconsciously,  the  needs  and  individual  nature  of 
children. 

The  living,  playing,  learning  child,  whose  soul  he- 
redity has  freighted  so  richly  from  a  past  we  know  not 
how    remote,   on   whose  right   development  all   good 


INTRODUCTION   TO   TIIE   AMERICAN   EDITION.      xxiii 

causes  in  the  world  depend,  embodies  a  truly  element- 
ary psychology.  All  the  fundamental  activities  are 
found,  and  the  play  of  each  psychic  process  is  so  open, 
simple,  interesting,  that  it  is  strange  that  psychology 
should  be  the  last  of  the  sciences  to  fall  into  line  in  the 
great  Baconian  change  of  base  to  which  we  owe  nearly 
all  the  reforms,  from  Comenius  down,  which  distin- 
guish schools  of  to  day  from  those  of  the  sixteenth 
century.  It  is  a  striking  fact  that  nearly  every  great 
teacher  in  the  history  of  education  who  has  spoken 
words  that  have  been  heeded  has  lived  for  years  in  the 
closest  personal  relations  to  children  and  has  had  the 
sympathy  and  tact  that  gropes  out,  if  it  can  not  see 
clearly,  the  laws  of  juvenile  development  and  the  lines 
of  childish  interests. 

Among  all  the  nearly  fourscore  studies  of  young 
children  printed  by  careful  empirical  and  often  thorough- 
ly scientific  observers,  this  work  of  Preyer  is  the  fullest 
and  on  the  whole  the  best.  It  should  be  read  by  teach- 
ers and  parents  even  of  older  children,  as  the  best  ex-  \ 
ample  of  the  inductive  method  applied  to  the  study  of  ' 
child-psychology.  The  development  of  each  sense,  and 
the  unfoldraent  of  the  power  of  voluntary  motion,  are 
traced  with  great  fullness ;  and  still  more  attention  is 
devoted  to  the  growth  of  the  ability  to  speak,  with  a 
suggestive  co-ordination  of  the  progressive  stages  of 
decay  of  the  linguistic  centers  in  aphasia  and  allied 
forms  of  disease. 

A  work  on  the  whole  so  good  awakens  a  desire  for 
still  further  advance  along  the  same  lines.  Not  only 
does  Preyer  not  continue  his  studies  into  school  age, 
but  he  has  not  attempted,  like  Perez,  to  trace  the  un- 


xxiv      INTRODUCTION   TO   THE   AMERICAN   EDITION. 

foldment  of  sentiments  and  emotions,  nor,  like  Herbart 
and  Ziller,  to  tabulate  the  spontaneous  interests  of  chil- 
dren. The  most  hopeful  effort  yet  made  in  this  direc- 
tion was  begun  three  years  ago  in  the  institution  with 
which  the  translator  of  this  work  is  connected,  and  may 
be  described  as  follows,  as  characterized  substantially 
in  the  words  of  the  principal,  E.  H.  Russell :  Systematic 
observation  of  children  is  made  a  part  of  the  regular 
work  of  this  normal  school,  with  a  view  of  enlarging 
the  scope  of  the  ordinary  study  of  psychology,  to  render 
it  more  objective  and  useful,  to  bring  the  prospective 
teachers  into  closer  and  better  relations  to  children,  and 
to  gather  a  store  of  facts  whereby  in  time  to  increase 
and  rectify  our  present  unsatisfactory  knowledge  of 
child-nature.  The  method  is  :  First,  to  explain  to  the 
students,  at  the  beginning  of  the  second  half-year  in 
school,  how  to  improve  their  opportunities  on  the  street, 
at  home,  in  families  of  friends,  of  noticing  minutely  the 
spontaneous,  unconstrained  activities,  bodily  and  mental 
and  physical,  of  children  of  all  ages,  at  play,  study,  or 
work,  etc.  Then,  at  the  earliest  convenient  moment, 
concise  record  is  made  on  blanks  with  printed  headings, 
and  colored — e.  g.,  white  for  personal  observation,  red  for 
second-hand  facts,  etc.  The  records,  now  some  five  or 
six  thousand  in  number,  are  classified,  so  far  as  can  be, 
under  memory,  imagination,  deceit,  ignorance,  mechani- 
cal construction,  moral  sense,  etc.,  etc.  Precisely  what 
the  value  of  this  material  will  be  it  is  now  too  soon  to 
say,  but  as  to  its  good  effects  on  the  powers  of  observa- 
tion, tact,  psychologic  knowledge  and  interest  of  those 
who  make  them,  there  can  be  no  question  whatever. 
The  students  soon  become  more  interested  in  children 


INTRODUCTION   TO   THE    AMERICAN    EDITION.        XXV 

and  their  ways,  and  more  skillful  in  dealing  with  them ; 
and  some  acquire  much  ingenuity  in  following  out  the 
more  complicated  and  obscure  processes  of  child-life. 
They  also  acquire  right  habits  of  observation  and  in- 
vestigation generally,  learning  in  some  degree  the  cau- 
tion, discrimination,  and  veracity  required  in  studying 
nature.  It  is  so  interesting  that  students  must  be  rather 
restrained  than  impelled  to  the  work ;  and  graduates  are 
believed  to  be  distinctly  guided  toward  best  success  aud 
pleasure  in  their  vocation  by  these  studies,  and  display 
intelligence  and  sympathy  in  dealing  with  troublesome 
children.  Many  of  the  essays  of  the  graduating  class 
are  based  on  this  work. 

While  commending  this  book  to  American  teachers 
generally,  the  writer  desires  to  commend  the  Worcester 
method  of  psychogenetic  study  to  the  careful  attention 
of  principals  of  normal  schools. 

G.  Stanley  Hall. 

Johns  Hopkins  University,  January  7, 1SS8. 


EXPLANATION  OF  ABBREVIATED  CITATIONS. 


Kussmaul :  "  Untersuchungen  liber  das  Seelenleben  des  neuge- 
borenen  Mensehen "  ("  Investigations  concerning  the  Mental  Life 
of  the  New-Bom  Human  Being  "),  1859  (38  pp.) ;  and  "  Storungen 
der  Sprache  "  ("  Disturbances  or  Obstructions  of  Speech  "),  1877. 

Genzmer :  "  Untersuchungen  iiber  die  Sinneswahrnehmungen 
des  neugeborenen  Mensehen "  ("  Investigations  concerning  the 
Sense-Perceptions  of  the  New-Born  Human  Being"),  1873  (re- 
printed 1882,  25  pp.). 

Sigismund :  "  Kind  und  Welt "  ("  The  Child  and  the  World  "), 
1856. 

Grustav  Lindner :  in  Twelfth  Annual  Report  of  the  "  Lehrer- 
seminars  in  Zschopau,"  1882,  and  in  the  periodical  "Kosmos," 
1882. 

Frau  Dr.  Friedemann ;  Frau  Professor  von  Strumpell ;  and  Herr 
Ed.  Schulte — to  these  the  author  is  under  particular  obligation  for 

MSS. 

All  other  references,  sources  of  information,  and  names  of  au- 
thors are  given  without  abbreviation. 


THE   MIND   OF  THE   CHILD. 


FIRST   PART. 

DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  SENSES. 

The  foundation  of  all  mental  development  is  the 
activity  of  the  senses.  We  can  not  conceive  of  any- 
thing of  the  nature  of  mental  genesis  as  taking  place 
without  that  activity. 

Every  sense-activity  is  fourfold  in  its  character : 
First,  there  is  an  excitement  of  the  nerves  /  then  comes 
sensation  •  and  not  until  the  sensation  has  been  local- 
ized in  space  and  referred  to  some  point  in  time,  do  we 
have  a  perception.  When,  further,  the  cause  of  this 
is  apprehended,  then  the  perception  becomes  an  idea. 

The  adult  human  being  is  a  person  who  is  responsi- 
ble, who  acts  according  to  his  own  pleasure,  and  is  capa- 
ble of  independent  thought.  For  our  understanding  of 
his  psychical  states  and  processes,  it  is  of  great  impor- 
tance to  know  what  is  the  condition  of  things  as  to  the 
above  stages  of  sense-activity,  in  the  newly-born,  and  in 
the  infant,  who  is  not  responsible,  who  does  not  act  ac- 
cording to  his  pleasure,  and  does  not  think  at  all. 

I  have  therefore  instituted  many  observations  con- 
cerning the  gradual   perfecting  of    the  senses  at  the 


2  THE   MIND   OF   TIIE   CHILD. 

beginning  of  life,  and  I  commence  with  a  description 
of  them.  In  these  observations  I  have  had  especially 
in  mind  the  prominent  part  played  in  the  mental  devel- 
opment of  the  child,  at  the  earliest  period,  by  the  sense 
of  sight. 


CHAPTEE  I. 

SIGHT. 

The  observations  with  regard  to  the  development 
of  the  sense  of  sight  during  the  first  years  relate  to 
sensibility  to  light,  discrimination  of  colors,  movements 
of  the  eyelids,  movements  of  the  eyes,  direction  of  the 
look,  seeing  of  near  and  distant  objects,  and  interpreta- 
tion of  what  is  seen.  To  these  are  attached  some  state- 
ments concerning  sight  in  new-born  animals. 

1.  Sensibility  to  Light. 

My  child's  sensibility  to  light,  when  he  was  held 
toward  the  window  in  the  dusk,  five  minutes  after 
birth,  did  not  seem  unusually  great.  For  he  opened 
and  shut  his  eyes,  with  alternate  movement,  so  that  the 
space  between  the  lids  was  about  five  millimetres  wide. 
Soon  after,  I  saw  in  the  twilight  both  eyes  wide  open. 
At  the  same  time  the  forehead  was  wrinkled. 

Long  before  the  close  of  the  first  day,  the  child's  ex- 
pression, as  he  was  held  with  his  face  toward  the  win- 
dow, became  suddenly  different  when  I  shaded  his  eyes 
with  my  hand.  The  dim  light,  therefore,  undoubtedly 
made  an  impression,  and,  to  judge  from  his   physiog- 


SIGHT.  3 

nomy,  an  agreeable  one ;  for  the  shaded  face  had  a  less 
contented  look. 

On  the  second  day  the  eyes  close  quickly  when  a 
candle  is  brought  near  them  ;  on  the  ninth,  the  head  is 
also  turned  away  vigorously  from  the  flame,  when  the 
candle  is  brought  near,  immediately  after  the  awaking 
of  the  child.  The  eyes  are  shut  tight.  But,  on  the 
following  day,  the  child  being  in  the  bath,  when  a 
candle  was  held  before  him  at  a  distance  of  one  metre, 
the  eyes  remained  wide  open.  The  sensitiveness  to 
light  is,  therefore,  so  much  greater  at  the  moment  of 
waking  than  it  is  a  short  time  afterward,  that  the  same 
object  causes  at  the  one  time  great  annoyance  and  at  the 
other  time  pleasure. 

Again,  on  the  eleventh  day,  the  child  seemed  to  be 
much  pleased  by  a  candle  burning  before  him  at  a  dis- 
tance of  one  half  a  metre,  for  he  gazed  at  it  steadily 
with  wide-open  eyes,  as  he  did  also,  later,  at  a  shining 
curtain-holder,  when  the  bright  object  was  brought  into 
his  line  of  vision,  so  that  it  was  in  the  direction  in 
which  he  seemed  to  be  gazing.  If  I  turned  the  child 
away,  he  became  fretful  and  began  to  cry ;  if  I  turned 
him  to  the  light  again,  then  his  countenance  resumed 
the  expression  of  satisfaction.  To  verify  this,  I  held 
the  child  that  same  day  at  the  same  distance  before  a 
burning  candle,  once  immediately  after  his  waking,  and 
again  after  he  had  been  awake  some  time  in  the  dark. 
In  both  cases  he  shut  his  eyes. 

That  he  liked  moderately  bright  daylight  was  appar- 
ent from  the  frequent  turning  of  his  head  toward  the 
window  when  I  turned  him  away  from  it.  This  twist- 
ing of  the  head  became  the  rule  on  the  sixth  day ;  on 


4  THE   MIND   OF  THE   CHILD. 

the  seventh  it  was  often  repeated,  and  every  time  that 
the  face  was  turned  toward  the  window  the  expression 
of  satisfaction  was  unmistakable. 

I  have  repeatedly  made  the  observation  that,  when 
the  light  falls  upon  the  face  of  sleeping  infants  they 
suddenly  close  the  eyes  more  tightly,  without  waking, 
and  this  from  the  tenth  day  on. 

In  the  case  of  my  child,  I  found  the  pupils  in  ordi- 
nary daylight  for  the  most  part  more  contracted  than  is 
the  case  in  adults — certainly  less  than  two  millimetres 
in  diameter;  and  the  lessening  of  the  space  between 
the  lids,  at  sight  of  a  bright  surface  of  snow  or  of  a 
shining  summer  cloud,  was  likewise  more  frequent  and 
more  persistent  than  with  adults,  during  the  whole 
period  of  observation. 

Brightly-shining  objects,  appearing  in  the  field  of 
vision,  often  produce,  from  the  second  month  on,  excla- 
mations of  delight.  But  other  highly-colored  objects 
also  easily  rouse  the  attention  of  the  infant.  In  the 
tenth  month  he  is  pleased  when  the  lamp  is  lighted  in 
the  evening ;  he  laughs  at  the  light,  and  reaches  after 
the  bright  globe. 

Of  the  observations  of  others  concerning  the  sensi- 
bility of  new-born  human  beings  to  light,  the  following 
are  to  be  mentioned  : 

1.  Fully-matured  children  just  born  shut  the  eyes 
quickly  and  convulsively  when  exposed  to  bright  light. 
Individuals,  also,  among  children  born  two  months 
too  soon,  distinguish  between  light  and  darkness  on  the 
second  day. 

2.  In  the  very  first  hours  the  pupil  of  the  eye  con- 
tracts in  a  bright  light,  and  expands  in  light  less  bright. 


SIGHT.  5 

3.  If  one  eye  of  the  new-born  child  is  shut  while 
the  other  is  open,  then  the  pupil  of  the  latter  expands. 

4.  Infants  from  two  to  four  days  old,  sleeping  in  the 
dark,  shut  the  lids  tightly,  and  even  awake  with  a  start 
when  the  bright  light  of  a  candle  comes  very  near  their 
eyes. 

To  these  statements  of  Prof.  Kussmaul,  the  first  of 
which,  in  particular,  I  can  confirm,  Dr.  Genzmer  adds 
that  the  eyes  of  the  newly-born,  when  suddenly  exposed 
to  bright  light,  make  a  movement  of  convergence ;  and 
that  sensitive  infants  are  brought  into  a  state  of  general 
discomfort  and  made  to  cry,  by  a  sudden  glare  of  light, 
or  by  a  quickly-changing,  dazzling  light ;  this  I  can 
confirm.  The  alternate  shutting  and  opening  of  the 
eyes,  that  is  often  to  be  seen  in  infants  exposed  to  bright 
light,  was  seen  by  Genzmer  even  in  a  sleeping  child 
two  days  old — a  remarkable  observation,  which  waits 
confirmation.  On  the  other  hand,  I  never  saw  a  new- 
born child  bear  dazzlingly  bright  light  quietly  with  open 
eyes.  Assertions  of  an  experience  contrary  to  this  may, 
perhaps,  rest  on  the  observation  of  children  born  blind. 

From  all  the  foregoing  statements  we  conclude 
that,  with  fully-matured  new-born  human  beings,  sensi- 
bility to  light  is  normally  present  either  directly  after 
birth,  or  a  few  minutes,  or  at  most  a  few  hours,  after 
birth  ;  that  light  and  darkness  are  discriminated  in  sen- 
sation ;  further,  that  the  reflex  arc  from  the  optic  nerve 
to  the  oculomotorius  already  performs  its  function — 
especially  is  this  true  of  the  filaments  that  contract  the 
pupils.  Here,  then,  we  have  an  inborn  reflex,  and  that 
of  a  double  sort,  since  both  pupils  contract  when  the 
light  reaches  one  of  them.     Further,  at  the  beginning, 


6  THE  MIND   OF  THE   CHILD. 

sensibility  to  light  on  awaking,  or  after  being  awhile  in 
the  dark,  amounts  to  an  aversion  to  light ;  yet  a  dim 
light  is  already  sought,  and  therefore  is  not  unpleasant. 
Finally,  we  infer  that  after  some  days  ordinary  daylight, 
or  a  brilliant  and  brightly-shining  object,  excites  cheer- 
fulness, the  aversion  to  light  disappears,  and  the  head  is 
turned  oftener  to  the  window. 

2.  Discrimination  of  Colors. 

At  what  age  the  child  is  capable  of  distinguishing 
colors,  at  least  red,  yellow,  green,  and  blue,  it  is  hard  to 
determine.  In  the  first  days,  it  is  certain  that  only  the 
difference  of  light  and  dark  is  perceived,  and  this  im- 
perfectly ;  moreover  (according  to  Flechsig),  the  tractus 
opticus,  which  in  the  matured  child  is  still  gray  at  first, 
does  not  get  its  nerve  medulla,  and  with  that  its  perma- 
nent coloring,  till  three  or  four  days  after  birth.  .  And 
even  then  the  differentiation  of  simultaneous  bright  and 
dark  impressions  proceeds  slowly. 

The  first  object  that  made  an  impression  on  account 
of  its  color,  upon  my  boy,  was  probably  a  rose-colored 
curtain  which  hung,  brightly  lighted  by  the  sun  but 
not  dazzlingly  bright,  about  a  foot  before  the  child's 
face.  This  was  on  the  twenty-third  day.  The  child 
laughed  and  uttered  sounds  of  satisfaction. 

As  the  smooth,  motionless,  bright-colored  surface 
alone  occupied  the  whole  field  of  vision,  it  must  have 
been  on  account  either  of  its  brightness  or  of  its  color 
that  it  was  the  source  of  pleasure.  In  the  evening  of 
the  same  day,  the  flame  of  the  candle,  at  the  distance 
of  one  metre,  caused  quite  similar  expressions  of  pleas- 
ure when  it  was  placed  before  the  eyes,  which  had  been 
gazing  into  empty  space  ;    and  so  did,  on  the  forty- 


SIGHT.  7 

second  day,  the  sight  of  colored  tassels  in  motion,  but 
in  this  case  the  movement  also  was  a  source  of  pleasure. 

In  the  eighty-fifth  week,  when  I  undertook  the  first 
systematic  tests,  with  counters  alike  in  form  but  unlike 
in  color,  no  trace  of  discrimination  in  color  was  as  yet 
to  be  discerned,  although  without  doubt  it  already  ex- 
isted. Different  as  were  the  impressions  of  sound  made 
by  the  words  "  red,"  "  yellow,"  "  green,"  "  blue  "  (these 
were  certainly  distinguished  from  one  another),  and 
well  as  the  child  knew  the  meaning  of  "  give,"  he  was 
not  able  to  give  the  counters  of  the  right  color,  even 
when  only  "red"  and  "green"  were  called  for.  We 
are  not  to  infer  from  this,  however,  an  inability  of  the 
eye  to  distinguish  one  color  from  another,  for  here  it  is 
essential  to  consider  the  difficulty  of  associating  the 
sound  of  the  word  "  red  "  or  "  green  "  with  the  proper 
color-sensation,  even  when  the  sensation  is  present. 

At  this  time,  before  the  age  of  twenty-one  months, 
there  must  have  been  recognition  not  only  of  the  vary- 
ing intensity  of  light  (white,  gray,  black),  but  also  of  the 
quality  of  some  colors,  for  the  delight  in  striking  colors 
was  manifest.  Yet  in  the  case  of  little  children,  even 
after  they  have  begun  to  speak,  it  can  not  be  determined 
without  searching  tests  what  colors  they  distinguish  and 
rightly  name. 

In  order,  then,  to  ascertain  how  the  separate  colors 
are  related  to  one  another  in  this  respect,  I  have  made 
several  hundred  color-tests  with  my  child,  beginning  at 
the  end  of  his  second  year.  These  I  used  to  apply 
every  day  in  the  early  morning,  for  a  week  ;  then,  after 
an  interval  of  a  week,  again  almost  every  day,  but  in  a 
different  manner — as  will  be  shown  directly. 


8  THE   MIND   OF   THE   CHILD. 

In  all  these  tests  I  made  use  of  the  colored  ovals 
which  Dr.  H.  Magnus,  of  Breslau,  gives  in  his  "  Tafel 
zur  Erziehung  des  Farbensinnes  "  (1879),  ("  Chart  for 
the  Training  of  the  Color-Sense  "). 

After  the  names  "red"  and  "green"  had  been  re- 
peatedly pronounced  while  the  corresponding  colors 
were  presented,  then  these  two  colors  were  simply  pre- 
sented and  the  questions,  "  Where  is  red  ? "  and  "  Where 
is  green  ? "  were  put,  always  in  alternation.  The  trials 
were  absolutely  without  result  in  the  eighty-sixth  and 
eighty-seventh  weeks.  After  an  interval  of  twenty-two 
weeks,  on  the  seven  hundred  fifty-eighth  day,  I  received 
eleven  times  a  right  answer,  six  times  a  wrong  answer. 
On  the  following  day  the  answers  were  right  seven 
times,  wrong  five  times ;  on  the  day  after  that,  nine 
times  right,  five  times  wrong.  From  this  it  seemed 
probable,  already,  that  the  two  colors  were  distin- 
guished, either  on  account  of  their  quality  or  on  ac- 
count of  their  brightness,  and  that  the  right  names  were 
often  associated  with  them.  To  my  surprise,  however, 
on  the  seven  hundred  sixty-third  day  the  answers  were 
right  fifteen  times  and  wrong  only  once,  and  on  the  fol- 
lowing day  ten  times  right  and  not  once  wrong.  The 
child  had  therefore  firmly  grasped  the  connection  of  the 
sound-impressions  "red"  and  "green"  with  two  differ- 
ent light-impressions.  For  such  proportions  as  those  of 
the  above  numbers  exclude  the  possibility  of  chance. 

I  carried  the  test  further.  To  red  and  green  I  added 
yellow,  and  when  the  three  colors  were  lying  near  one 
another,  each  one  was  rightly  pointed  out  in  answer  to 
the  question  where  it  was.  Then  came  a  disinclination 
on  the  part  of  the  child  to  continue,  such  as  often  makes 


sight.  9 

color-tests  impossible  in  children  so  young.  When  the 
trial  was  repeated,  he  was  inattentive,  and  he  confound- 
ed the  three  colors  with  one  another.  On  the  following 
day,  the  seven  hundred  sixty-fifth,  green  especially  was 
confounded  with  yellow.  The  answers  on  five  days  of 
the  one  hundred  tenth  week  were  : 

Right.  Wrong. 

Red 26  10 

Green 24  7 

v-»  Yellow 23  5 

Total 73  22 

Blue  was  now  added  as  a  fourth  color.  The  answers 
in  eight  trials,  during  the  time  from  the  end  of  the  one 
hundred  tenth  to  the  beginning  of  the  one  hundred 
twelfth  week,  were : 

Right.  Wrong. 

Red 32  14 

Green 31  8 

w   Yellow 34  2 

Blue 27  12 

Total 124  36 

Often,  especially  on  being  asked  "  Where  is  blue  ? " 
the  child  would  consider  long,  observe  the  four  colors 
attentively  before  deciding,  and  then  give  me  the  color 
quickly.  It  appears  evident  that  yellow  is  recognized 
more  surely  than  are  the  other  colors.  Yellow  seems  to 
be  the  easiest  to  distinguish,  and  hence  the  easiest  also 
to  retain  in  memory.  I  made  other  tests  of  the  same 
sort,  which  showed  the  superiority  of  yellow.  Then 
violet  was  added  as  the  fifth  color,  called  "  lila,"  as  easier 
to  speak,  and  a  different  way  of  conducting  the  experi- 
ment was  adopted. 


10  THE   MIND   OF   THE   CHILD. 

I  laid  each  color  separately  before  the  child  and 
asked,  "  What  is  that  ? "  He  answered,  rroot  [Eng. 
pronunciation  wrote]  (for  roth,  red),  delp,  depp,  gelp 
(for  gelb,  yellow),  rihn,  ihn  [Eng.  pr.  reen,  een]  (for 
griin,  green),  balau  (for  hlau,  blue),  and  lilla  (for  Ula, 
violet). 

In  the  one  hundred  twelfth  week  the  answers  in 
four  trials  were : 

Right.  Wrong. 

Red 10  2 

^Yellow 9  0 

Green 9  1 

Blue 5  7 

Violet.... 11  1 

Total 44  11 

Here,  too,  yellow  is  foremost ;  it  was  named  cor- 
rectly nine  times,  not  once  wrongly  named.  Blue  comes 
last.  It  was  confounded  especially  with  green  and  vio- 
let.    If  the  child's  attention  failed,  I  broke  off. 

Afterward  the  tests  were  continued  in  both  ways 
combined  ;  but  these  proved  to  be  great  consumers  of 
time.  It  often  happens  that  the  child  takes  no  interest 
in  the  colors.  Sometimes,  from  roguishness,  he  will 
not  name  the  color  he  knows,  and  will  not  point  out  or 
give  me  the  one  I  ask  for.  At  other  times  he  himself 
brings  the  box  that  holds  the  color-ovals,  and  says 
wawa  =  "  Farbe "  (color),  in  expectation  of  a  lesson. 
The  trials  in  which  the  attention  is  undivided  are,  how- 
ever, not  numerous. 

Gray  is  added.  In  the  one  hundred  twelfth  and  one 
hundred  thirteenth  weeks  five  tests  yielded  the  follow- 
ing answers : 


SIGIIT.  11 

Right.  Wrong. 

Red 1G  3 

» Yellow 22  1 

Green 14  5 

Blue 10  15 

Violet 18  1 

Gray 10  2 

Total 90  27 

Yellow  maintains  the  first  place,  being  rightly  named 
in  twenty-two  instances,  and  wrongly  only  once.  The 
judgment  in  regard  to  blue  is  the  worst ;  fifteen  wrong 
judgments  to  ten  right  ones.  It  is  noteworthy  that  in 
this  series,  as  in  the  preceding,  violet  is  rightly  named 
oftener  than  green. 

I  now  bade  the  child,  repeatedly,  to  place  together 
the  ovals  of  the  same  color.  After  much  moving  hither 
and  thither,  he  succeeded  with  yellow,  red,  rose,  green, 
and  violet,  but  very  incompletely.  The  expressions 
"light"  and  "  dark,"  before  the  names  of  the  colors,  were 
beyond  the  child's  understanding.  So  the  saturated  and 
the  less  saturated  colors,  the  light  and  the  dark,  were, 
as  before,  indicated  by  the  common  name  of  the  quality 
alone.  Four  trials  with  the  colors  mixed,  during  the  time 
from  the  one  hundred  fourteenth  to  the  one  hundred  six- 
teenth week,  resulted  as  follows : 

Bight.  Wrong. 

Red 15  1 

WYellow 13  0 

Green 4  7 

Blue 3  10 

Violet 11  2 

Gray 6  0 

Brown 4  0 

Rose 1  2 

Black 2  0 

Total 59  22 


12  THE    MIXD   OF   THE   CHILD. 

Blue  was  especially  confounded  with  violet,  also 
with  green.  All  very  pale  colors  were  confounded  with 
gray,  all  dark  ones  with  black.  The  order  in  which 
the  colors  were  recognized,  i.  e.,  rightly  named,  is  now 
the  following :  Yellow  best  of  all,  then  red,  violet, 
green  ;  and  worst  of  all,  blue. 

On  other  days  I  laid  before  the  child,  as  I  had  done 
previously,  a  single  color,  with  the  question,  what  it  was, 
and  marked  the  answer  wrong  if  it  were  not  given  right 
immediately.  The  colors  are  now  called  by  the  child 
rott,  delp,  drun,  blau,  lila,  grau,  swarz,  rosa,  braun. 

Four  trials  in  the  one  hundred  fourteenth  and  one 
hundred  fifteenth  weeks  yielded  the  answers : 

Right.  Wrong. 

^  Red 13  0 

Yellow 11  0 

Green 7  9 

Blue 5  13 

Violet 10  3 

Gray 1  3 

Brown 4  1 

Rose 3  3 

Black 4  0 

Total 08  32 

For  the  first  five  colors  this  trial  gives  the  same  or- 
der, of  succession  as  above.  Blue  and  green  are  very 
uncertain ;  blue  is  called  drv/n  (meant  for  grim)  and 
Ilia  (violet),  green  is  called  gray ;  and,  oftener  still,  nei- 
ther bine  nor  green  is  named  at  all ;  while  yellow,  and 
red,  and  black,  are  given  correctly  and  quickly. 

I  now  let  the  child  take  out  of  the  box  of  colored 
ovals  one  after  another  of  them,  at  pleasure,  name  it, 


SIGHT.  13 

and  give  it  to  me.     At  the  first  trial  he  seized  at  ran- 
dom ;  at  the  second  he  sought  his  favorite  color,  yellow. 
Two  trials  in  the  one  hundred  fifteenth  week : 

Right.  Wrong. 

Red 6  0 

^Yellow 8  0 

Green 1  2 

Blue 0  5 

Violet 4  1 

Gray 1  5 

Brown 0  1 

Rose 3  2 

Black 2  0 

Total 25  16 

The  result  is  the  same  as  above.  Red,  yellow,  and 
black  are  the  only  colors  that  are  surely  recognized. 

I  now  made  no  more  trials  for  two  months.  The 
child  spent  the  larger  part  of  the  day  in  the  open  air, 
with  me,  on  a  journey ;  the  greater  part  of  the  time  was 
spent  in  the  neighborhood  of  Lake  Garda. 

In  the  one  hundred  twenty-first  week,  an  occasional 
examination  showed  a  greater  uncertainty  than  before. 
Blue  was  scarcely  once  named  rightly,  in  spite  of  the 
most  urgent  cautions.  When  the  trials  were  resumed, 
after  our  return,  the  result  was  bad.  I  took  the  colored 
counters  in  my  band  and  put  questions.  At  the  very 
first  questioning,  yellow  was  indeed  named  rightly  three 
times,  and  not  wrongly  at  all ;  but  red  was  twice  wrong- 
ly and  not  once  rightly  named. 

1  got  the  following  answers  in  the  one  hundred 
twenty-fourth  week,  in  the  first  four  trials  with  all  the 
colors  after  the  interval : 


14  THE    MIND   OF   THE   CHILD. 

Right.  Wrong. 

Red 17  0 

Yellow 22  0 

Green 0  18 

Blue 0  13 

Violet 9  4 

Gray 0  5 

Brown 4  3 

Rose 3  4 

Black 3  0 

Orange 0  2 

Total 58  49 

Here  it  is  still  more  evident  than  before  that  red 
and  yellow  are  already  more  surely  recognized  and  more 
correctly  named  than  green  and  blue.  On  the  eight 
hundred  sixty-sixth  day  the  child,  without  being  con- 
strained, took  colors  out  of  the  box  and  gave  them  to  me, 
naming  them  as  he  did  so.  The  colors  that  were  mistaken 
for  one  another  were  rose,  gray,  and  pale  green ;  brown 
and  gray  ;  green  and  black ;  finally,  blue  and  violet. 

In  the  following  experiments,  also,  the  child  every 
time  took  the  colors  out  of  the  box  and  gave  them  to 
me,  telling  the  names  at  the  same  time,  without  the  least 
direction.  Five  trials  out  of  the  one  hundred  twenty- 
fourth  and  one  hundred  twenty-fifth  weeks  gave : 

Right.  Wrong. 

Red 29  1 

Yellow 16  0 

Green .  0  4 

Blue 0  6 

Violet 14  0 

Gray 0  8 

Rose    14  5 

Brown 7  2 

Black 0  2 

Orange 0  6 

Total 80  34 


SIGHT.  15 

Red  and  yellow  are  eagerly  sought  and  almost  al- 
ways rightly  named;  blue  and  green  avoided  and  al- 
ways named  wrongly  (e.  g.,  as  lila,  swarz).  I  now  re- 
moved all  the  red  and  yellow  colors  from  the  collection, 
and  let  the  child  give  to  me,  and  name  as  many  of  the 
remaining  ones  as  he  could  on  a  stretch.  Now  that  red 
and  yellow  are  wanting,  however,  he  shows  from  the 
first  a  less  degree  of  interest,  and  in  the  case  of  green  he 
says  "  Papa  tell ! "  In  all  other  cases  he  had  a  name  for 
the  color  he  took.  If  that  was  wrong,  it  was  always 
corrected  by  me,  often  by  the  child  himself ;  but  it  was 
always  entered  in  the  record  as  wrong,  if  the  first  an- 
swer was  wrong.  In  the  one  hundred  twenty-fifth  and 
one  hundred  twenty-sixth  weeks  six  trials  were  made  in 
which  this  method  was  strictly  observed  and  the  follow- 
ing judgments  were  registered  : 

Right.  Wrong. 

Green 2  19 

Blue 6  20 

Violet 20  3 

Gray 0  6 

Rose 19  6 

Brown 15  0 

Black 7  2 

Orange 11  7 

Total 80  G3 

The  brighter  colors  were  at  first  selected.  The  child 
confuses  orange  {oroos,  as  he  calls  it)  with  yellow,  blue 
with  violet,  green  with  gray,  black  with  brown. 

I  tried  repeatedly  to  induce  the  child  to  place  to- 
gether the  colors  that  seemed  to  him  alike,  but  it  was  a 
total  failure.  Then  I  asked  for  single  colors  by  their 
names,  but  the  results  of  this  procedure  were  likewise 


16  THE   MIND   OF   THE   CHILD. 

poor.  (This  on  the  eight  hundred  seventy-ninth  day.) 
Finally,  I  took  a  single  color  at  a  time  and  asked,  "  What 
is  that?"  In  four  trials  in  the  one  hundred  twenty- 
sixth,  one  hundred  twenty -seventh,  and  one  hundred 
twenty-eighth  weeks,  the  answeis  were  : 

Right.  Wrong. 

Red 11  (1) 

Yellow 11  0 

Green 1  14 

Blue 1  11 

Violet 12  1 

Gray  6  1 

Rose 11  2 

Brown 10  0 

Black 6  1 

Orange 6        2  and  (1) 

Total 75  34 

For  green  and  blue — which  are  confounded  with 
gray  when  they  are  light,  and  with  black  when  they 
are  dark — there  is  probably  a  less  degree  of  sensibility, 
certainly  a  less  interest.  Blue  is  still  called  lila.  Be- 
sides, it  is  very  difficult  to  direct  the  attention  persist- 
ently to  the  colors.  The  child,  although  tested  only  in 
the  early  hours  of  morning,  seeks  now  other  means  of 
entertaining  himself.  Now  and  then  he  makes  a  mis- 
take in  speaking.  (Errors  of  this  kind  are  indicated  by 
parentheses)  But  on  the  eight  hundred  ninety-eighth 
day  every  color  was  rightly  named — green  and  blue,  to 
be  sure,  only  after  some  guessing.  In  six  trials  in  the 
one  hundred  twenty-ninth,  one  hundred  thirty-fifth,  one 
hundred  thirty-sixth,  one  hundred  thirty-seventh,  and 
one  hundred  thirty-eighth  weeks  the  child  took  the  colors 
and  gave  them  to  me,  naming  them.     The  answers  were  : 


SIGHT.  17 

Right.  Wrong. 

Red 27  1 

Yellow 27  0 

Green 2  14 

Blue 2  13 

Violet 15  2 

Gray 5  1 

Rose 10  3 

Brown 14  0 

Black 5  1 

Orange 12  3 

Total 119  38 

There  is  confounding  of  colors  as  before.  The  only 
thing  new  is  the  designation  garnix  (for  gar  7iichts, 
"  nothing  at  all ")  for  green  and  blue.  Unknown  colors 
are  now  often  named  green — e.  g.,  blue.  In  a  bouquet 
of  yellow  roses  these  were  designated  as  yellow,  but  the 
leaves  were  obstinately  called  ga?'?iix,  and  so  likewise 
were  very  whitish  colors,  whose  quality  is,  however, 
recognizable  at  once,  in  a  moderate  light,  by  adults  ac- 
quainted with  colors. 

On  the  nine  hundred  thirty-fourth  day  there  was  this 
remarkable  utterance  when  green  and  blue  were  placed 
before  the  child  :  grin  Man  kann  e  nicht,  grosse  mann 
kcmn  grin  blau,  which  meant  (as  appeared  from  similar 
utterances),  "I  can't  give  green  and  blue  rightly;  a 
grown  person  can."  Green  was  mostly  called  gray ; 
very  rarely  (inquiringly)  it  was  called  red ;  blue  was 
named  lila.  In  the  one  hundred  thirty-first  and  one 
hundred  thirty-fourth  weeks  I  made  three  trials,  asking 
for  colors  which  I  laid  out ;  in  the  one  hundred  thirty- 
eighth  and  one  hundred  thirty-ninth  weeks,  in  three 
trials,  sometimes  the  child  took  the  colors  himself,  some- 
times I  put  them  before  him.     The  answers  were  : 


18  THE   MIND  OF  THE  CHILD. 

Eight.  Wrong. 

Red 14  1 

Yellow 24  0 

Green 4  13 

Blue 0  15 

Violet  9  5 

Gray 5  0 

Rose 9  2 

Brown 11  1 

Black 7  1 

Orange 10  1 

Total 93  39 

Here  begins  at  last  the  right  naming  of  green,  while 
blue  is  not  yet  so  often  correctly  designated.  The  child 
took  the  colors  of  his  own  accord  and  named  them  in 
three  trials,  in  the  one  hundred  thirty-ninth,  one  hundred 
forty-first,  and  one  hundred  forty-sixth  weeks,  as  follows : 

Right.  Wrong. 

Red 19  2 

Yellow 12  0 

Green 2  2 

Blue 2  11 

Violet 6  1 

Gray 1  2 

Rose 3  0 

Brown   10  0 

Black 3  0 

Orange  8  1 

Total 66  19 

The  red  twice  misnamed  was  dark.  The  word 
"  green  "  was  now  rightly  applied  continually  to  leaves 
and  to  meadows,  and,  before  the  completion  of  the  third 
year,  blue  also  was  almost  invariably  designated  correct- 
ly, if  the  attention  was  not  diverted. 


SIGHT. 


19 


"With  regard  to  the  order  in  which  the  colors  were 
rightly  named  up  to  the  thirty-fourth  month,  the  total 
result  is  as  follows : 


JUDGMENTS. 

PER 

;ent. 

Right. 

232 
79 

235 

139 
39 
70 
47 
35 

101 
61 

Wrong. 

8 

8 

36 

24 

7 

29 

23 

33 

123 

151 

Right. 

Wrong. 

I.  Yellow 

96-7 
90-8 
86-7 
85  3 
84-8 
724 
67-1 
515 
45-0 
28-8 

33 

92 

III.  Red 

133 

IV.  Violet 

14-7 

V.  Black 

15-2 

VI.  Rose 

276 

VII.  Orange 

329 

VIII.  Gray 

48-5 

IX.  Green 

550 

X.  Blue 

71-2 

Total 

1,044 

442 

70-3 

29-7 

Thus,  of  the  four  principal  colors,  yellow  and  red 
are  named  rightly  much  sooner  than  are  green  and  blue  ; 
and  yellow  first — brown  is  (dull)  yellow — then  red. 
That  the  color-sensations,  green,  blue,  and  violet,  exist 
in  very  different  proportions,  is  probably  not  a  peculiar- 
ity of  the  individual.  Violet,  which  was  much  oftener 
named  rightly  than  were  green  and  blue,  contains  the 
already  well  known  red,  and  may  appear  to  the  child  as 
a  dirty  red,  or  as  dark  red.  For  it  is  in  fact  probable 
that  blue  and  greenish-blue  were  perceived  in  the  earliest 
period,  not  as  blue  and  greenish-blue,  but  as  gray  and 
black.  That  green  of  every  sort  is  not  named  rightly 
till  very  late,  may  be  owing,  in  part,  to  a  stronger  ab- 
sorption of  light,  by  means  of  the  blood  of  the  vessels 
of  the  retina.  Although  the  place  of  the  clearest  vis- 
ion, in  the  back  part  of  the  eye,  is  free  from  blood-ves- 
sels, yet  the  other  colors  which,  like  yellow,  orange,  red, 
and  brown,  reach  the  retina  undimmed,  in  great  exten- 


20  THE    MIND   OF    THE   CHILD. 

sion,  have,  on  that  account,  an  advantage  over  green 
and  blue,  which  are  most  easily  confounded  with  gray. 

Even  in  the  fourth  year,  blue  was  still  often  called 
gray  in  the  dusk  of  morning,  when  it  appeared  to  me 
distinctly  blue.  The  child  would  wonder  that  his  light- 
blue  stockings  had  become  gray  in  the  night.  This  I 
observed  on  three  days. 

Gray  is,  without  doubt,  along  with  white  and  black, 
rightly  known  long  before  the  first  discrimination  of 
colors,  but  is  often  wrongly  named,  for  the  reason  that 
green  and  blue  are  probably  perceived  as  gray.  The 
right  naming  of  it  became  the  rule  before  the  end  of 
the  third  year,  whereas  yellow  was  rightly  named,  al- 
most invariably,  nearly  a  year  earlier.  To  this  color 
the  pigment  of  the  yellow  spot  is  most  helpful.  Red 
may  also  have  an  advantage,  in  the  fact  that  in  bright 
daylight,  when  the  eyes  are  shut,  especially  when  snow 
is  on  the  ground,  that  is  the  only  color  in  the  field  of 
vision  [i.  e.,  the  eyelids  are  translucent,  and  we  perceive 
red] ;  as  black  is  the  only  one  before  we  fall  asleep  in 
the  dark. 

On  the  whole  we  must,  accordingly,  declare  the 
child  to  be  still  somewhat  lacking  in  sensibility  to  the 
cold  colors  in  the  second  year  and  the  first  half  of  the 
third  year ;  a  conclusion  with  which  occasional  observa- 
tions concerning  other  children  harmonize.  At  any 
rate,  by  very  many  children,  yellow  is  first  rightly 
named  and  blue  last.  One  boy  began,  before  he  had 
reached  the  age  of  four  months,  to  prefer  a  brilliant  red 
to  other  colors.*     All  children  prefer,  like  him,  at  this 

*  According  to  Genzmer :    "  Untersuchungen   uber  die  Sinnes- 
wahrnehmungen  des  neugeborenen  Menschen,"  1859. 


SIGHT.  21 

age  and  long  after,  the  whitish  colors,  without  regard 
to  their  quality. 

The  incapacity  of  the  two-years-old  child  to  name 
blue  and  green  correctly  can  not  be  attributed  solely  to 
his  possible  inability  to  associate  firmly  the  names 
ublue"  and  "green"  (which  he  has  heard  and  which 
he  uses  fluently)  with  his  possibly  distinct  sensations ; 
for  "  yellow  "  and  "  red  "  have  already  been  used  cor- 
rectly many  months  before.  If  green  and  blue  were  as 
distinct  as  yellow  and  red  in  his  sensation,  then  there 
wrould  not  be  the  least  occasion  for  his  giving  them 
wrong  names,  and  preferring  red  and  yellow  to  them  in 
all  circumstances.  The  child  does  not  yet  know  what 
green  and  blue  signify,  although  he  is  already  acquaint- 
ed with  yellow  and  red.  Neither  does  he  yet  know 
what  "green"  means  when,  in  the  one  hundred  ninth 
and  one  hundred  twelfth  weeks  of  his  life,  he  apparent- 
ly distinguishes  "  red  "  and  "  green  "  correctly.  Green 
is  at  this  time,  for  him,  merely  something  that  is  not 
red. 

I  have  yet  to  mention  that  my  child,  at  the  begin- 
ning of  his  third  year,  moved  and  handled  himself  with 
surprising  sureness  and  quickness  in  the  semi-darkness 
of  twilight ;  he  thus  discriminated  well  between  light 
and  dark.  And  at  the  beginning  of  his  fourth  year  he 
named  correctly  all  the  colors  except  the  very  dark  or 
the  pale  ones,  particularly  even  the  most  varying  shades 
of  green  and  blue,  to  the  astonishment  of  those  who 
had  been  occasionally  present  at  the  color-lessons  here 
described,  and  who  had  witnessed  his  numerous  errors. 

Other  children,  with  sound  eyes,  are  likewise  per- 
fectly sure  in  their  naming  of  colors  at  the  age  of  three 
4 


22  THE   MIND   OF  THE   CHILD. 

years,  though  very  uncertain  at  the  age  of  two  years. 
A  boy  of  two  and  two- thirds  years  was  impressed  by  the 
colors  in  the  following  order  : 

1,  dark  violet ;  2,  yellow  ;  3,  red  ;  4,  bine ;  5,  green. 
Here  the  first  named  was  singled  out  before  the  others 
on  account  of  its  being  dark.* 

A  boy  of  four  years,  who  had.  received  no  regular 
instruction  in  observing  colors,  was  asked  by  his  father 
what  colors  he  saw  in  a  brilliant  rainbow  that  was  just 
then  defining  itself  sharply  upon  the  gray  sky.  The 
child  answered  slowly,  but  with  decision,  "  Red,  yellow, 
green,  blue "  ;  and  he  afterward,  as  I  am  informed  by 
his  father,  Prof.  Bardeleben,  of  Jena,  always  picked 
out  these  principal  colors  easily  among  paints,  whereas 
the  naming  of  violet,  reddish-yellow,  and  other  mixed 
colors,  was  difficult  for  him. 

3.  Movements  of  the  Eyelids. 

The  eyelids  are  not  often  kept  apart  long  in  the  first 
days  of  life.  Newly-born  children,  even  when  awake, 
keep  their  eyes  shut  far  more  than  they  keep  them  open. 
And,  when  the  lids  are  raised,  there  appears  for  the 
most  part  a  strange  asymmetry.  One  eye  remains  open 
while  the  other  is  shut.  Alternate  shutting  and  open- 
ing were  seen  by  me  frequently  from  the  first  to  the 
eleventh  day ;  afterward  more  seldom.  Yet  my  child, 
before  the  first  twenty-four  hours  were  passed,  had  both 
eyes  wide  open,  once,  at  the  same  time,  in  the  twilight. 
During  the  first  month  the  rule  was,  that  when  both 
eyes  were  open  at  the  same  time,  they  were  not  open 

*  Frau  Dr.  Friedemann. 


SIGHT.  23 

equally  wide  ;  this  was  still  strikingly  noticeable  on  the 
thirty-first  day.  At  this  time,  too,  the  occasional  keep- 
ing open  of  one  eye  only  had  not  ceased.  Further, 
even  when  both  eyes  were  closed,  the  movements  of  the 
left  and  right  upper  lids  were  frequently  not  simulta- 
neous. 

Other  remarkable  irregular  (atypische)  movements 
of  the  lids  were  seen  in  connection  with  the  raising  and 
lowering  of  the  look  on  one  side  and  on  both  sides. 
Especially,  in  the  fifth  week,  the  lids  were  often  raised 
while  the  look  was  directed  downward,  so  that  the  white 
sclerotic  was  visible  over  the  cornea ;  a  movement  that 
an  adult  imitates  with  difficulty,  and  that  lends  to  the 
countenance  an  expression  almost  of  a  character  to  cause 
anxiety.  But  long  before  the  third  month  the  lid  fol- 
lowed the  pupil  regularly  when  the  look  was  downward. 
When,  on  the  contrary,  the  child,  as  he  lay  on  his  back, 
directed  his  glance  toward  his  forehead,  which  he  did 
without  wrinkling  his  forehead  in  the  least,  the  lid  was 
not  always  raised,  but  it  often  covered  the  iris  close  up 
to  the  pupil,  sometimes  even  partially  covering  the  lat- 
ter; and  this  I  saw  repeatedly  as  late  as  the  eighth 
week. 

The  "  rolling  of  the  eyes  "  by  sick  children,  the  pu- 
pils going  upward  and  the  upper  eyelid  downward,  so 
that  only  the  white  sclerotic  remains  visible  in  the  space 
between  the  lids,  is  an  advanced  stage  of  this  physio- 
logical irregularity,  which  appears  also  in  hysterical 
patients.  Even  toward  the  end  of  the  third  month  I 
saw  that  when  the  child  looked  up  (as  he  wTas  carried  on 
the  arm  in  an  upright  position),  e.  g.,  to  a  lamp  stand- 
ing high,  the  eyelid  was  not  completely  raised,  but  here, 


24  THE   MIND   OF   THE   CHILD. 

too,  the  pupil  was  touched  by  the  edge  of  the  lid  at  a 
tangent.  At  this  time  the  forehead,  which,  in  the  first 
days,  appeared  often  in  horizontal  folds,  as  is  the  case 
with  monkeys,  was  either  not  wrinkled  at  all  or  very 
little,  and  in  exceptional  cases,  when  the  look  was 
directed  upward.  Not  till  the  ninety-eighth  day  was 
my  boy's  brow  wrinkled  when  he  looked  upward,  and 
then  not  to  such  a  degree  as  that  of  an  adult,  and  even 
in  the  eighth  month  the  brow  was  not  wrinkled  invari- 
ably ;  but  from  the  end  of  the  ninth  month  it  was  regu- 
larly so.  This  co-ordinate  movement  is  therefore  ac- 
quired, probably  because  it  enlarges  the  field  of  vision 
when  one  is  looking  upward,  without  making  it  neces- 
sary to  bend  back  the  head. 

The  raising  of  the  lid  along  with  the  downward 
look  was  seen  in  the  first  days  of  infant  life,  up  to  the 
tenth  day,  by  Raehlmann,  and  Witkowski  also,  and 
they  rightly  call  attention  to  the  fact  that  the  relation 
of  compulsory  dependence  between  the  raising  of  the 
lid  and  the  elevation  of  the  cornea  does  not  yet  exist  at 
the  beginning.  The  muscle  that  raises  the  lid  can  con- 
tract at  the  same  time  with  the  lower  rectus  muscle  of 
the  eye ;  the  upper  rectus  muscle  of  the  eye  may  con- 
tract without  the  one  that  lifts  the  lid :  later,  this  can 
no  longer  be  done.  There  must  be,  then,  at  the  begin- 
ning, within  the  prpvince  of  the  oculomotorius,  an  in- 
dependence of  the  separate  branches,  that  is  afterward 
lost.  The  co-excitement  of  the  branch  that  goes  to  the 
elevator  of  the  lid  (levator  palpebroe),  on  occasion  of 
the  excitement  of  the  branch  going  to  the  elevator  of 
the  glance  (rectus  superior),  in  the  upper  division  of  the 
oculomotorius,  is   accordingly   something   acquired — is 


SIGHT.  25 

learned  afresh  by  each  individual  human  being — on  ac- 
count of  the  help  it  gives  in  the  act  of  seeing.  Just  so, 
according  to  our  observations,  the  perfectly  useless  ex- 
citement of  the  elevator-branch  on  occasion  of  the  ex- 
citement of  the  branch  that  goes  to  the  muscle  that 
depresses  the  glance  (rectus  inferior)  in  the  lower  di- 
vision of  the  oculomotoriiis,  though  frequent  at  first,  is 
so  persistently  omitted  farther  on,  that  adults  are  hard- 
ly able  to  contract  at  the  same  time  the  lid-elevator  and 
the  eye-depressor  (rectus  inferior),  i.  e.,  to  direct  the 
look  downward  with  the  eye  wide  open.  Consequently, 
the  movements  under  consideration — of  the  upper  eye- 
lid upward  in  looking  up,  and  downward  in  looking 
down — are  not  inborn  in  human  beings. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  closing  of  the  lid  when  it  is 
exposed  to  a  strong  light,  as  well  as  the  contracting  of 
the  pupil  in  light,  is  inborn.  But  the  case  here  is  one 
of  reflex  action  of  the  optic  nerve :  on  the  one  hand, 
upon  the  orbicularis  branch  of  the  facialis ;  on  the 
other  hand,  upon  the  iris  branch  of  the  oculomotorius, 
not  therefore  a  case  of  associated  movements,  but  of 
purely  sensori-motor  reflexes. 

The  quick  shutting  of  the  eye  by  a  sudden  move- 
ment of  the  lid,  followed  immediately  by  the  opening 
of  it — what  is  called  winking — does  not  appear,  as  is 
well  known,  in  new-born  or  in  very  young  infants. 
The  fact  is  well  established  that  they  bear  the  sudden 
approach  of  a  hand  to  the  eye  without  moving  the  lid ; 
whereas,  later  in  life,  every  one  in  such  circumstances 
shuts  the  eye  for  an  instant,  or  even  starts  back  at  the 
first  approach,  just  as  after  an  actual  touch — and  this 
even  when  there  is  a  pane  of  glass  before  the  face — un- 


26  THE   MIND   OF   THE   CHILD. 

less  special  practice  in  the  control  of  this  reflex  move- 
ment leads  in  manhood  to  the  voluntary  inhibition 
of  it. 

I  have  determined  the  time  in  the  case  of  my  child 
at  which  the  first  winking  occurred  as  a  sign  of  fright 
at  any  sudden  impression,  and  as  an  expression  of  sur- 
prise at  a  new  impression  made  upon  the  sense  of 
sight.     My  experience  is  as  follows  : 

I  put  my  hand  suddenly  near  the  face  of  the  child, 
as  he  lay  quiet  with  oj:>en  eyes,  without  the  least  reaction 
on  his  part,  on  the  sixth,  eighth,  eleventh,  twelfth, 
twenty-second,  twenty-fifth,  fiftieth,  and  fifty-fifth  days. 
During  this  period  the  softest  touch  of  the  lashes,  of 
the  edges  of  the  lids,  of  the  conjunctiva,  or  the  cornea, 
occasioned  an  immediate  closing  of  the  lid.  The  drop- 
ping of  the  lid  up  to  the  twelfth  day  was,  however, 
decidedly  slower  than  it  is  in  adults.  On  the  fifty- 
seventh  and  fifty-eighth  days  I  noticed  that  winking 
made  its  appearance  for  the  first  time,  occurring  when 
I  put  my  head  quickly  near  the  child's  face ;  but,  on 
repeating  the  experiment  several  times,  both  eyes  re- 
mained open.  On  the  sixtieth  day,  the  quick,  simul- 
taneous shutting  and  opening  of  both  eyes  in  case  of 
fright  at  a  quick  approach  to  the  face  (just  as  in  case  of 
a  sudden  loud  sound),  is  already  the  rule.  At  such 
times  the  child  often  throws  up  both  arms  quickly,  alike 
whether  he  is  lying  down  or  is  held  in  the  arms.  This 
is  the  case  especially  as  late  as  the  fourteenth  week.  At 
this  time,  however,  there  was  not  observable  any  start- 
ing back  with  the  head,  or  the  upper  part  of  the  body, 
at  the  rapid  approach  of  my  face  to  his ;  whereas  the 
winking  now  invariably  appears  promptly,  even  when 


SIGHT.  27 

the  approach  is  repeated  several  times  in  close  succes- 
sion. It  was  the  same  in  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth 
weeks.  Other  children,  however  (according  to  Sigis- 
mund),  do  not  yet  close  their  eyes  in  the  fourteenth  and 
even  the  sixteenth  week,  when  you  thrust  at  them  with 
the  finger  as  if  you  meant  to  hit  them.  The  difference 
is  probably  owing  to  the  fact  that  the  finger  occupies 
too  small  an  area  in  the  field  of  vision  compared  with 
the  palm  of  the  hand  and  with  the  face.  O.  Soltmami 
found  that  the  seventh  and  eighth  weeks  marked  the 
first  appearance  of  the  lid  movement  in  the  experiment 
of  the  "attacking  hand,"  and  my  observations  accord 
with  this. 

Not  till  after  the  first  three  months  did  I  observe 
that  the  eyes  were  closed  when,  in  the  bath,  water  touched 
the  cornea  or  even  the  lashes ;  in  the  first  days  the  wet- 
ting of  the  eyes,  even  when  it  was  repeated,  having  oc- 
casioned no  closing  of  the  lid  at  all.  Probably  it  is  ex- 
periences of  this  kind — of  disagreeable  sensation  when 
the  exposed  parts  of  the  eye  are  touched — that  caused  in 
the  ninth  week,  for  the  first  time,  the  closing  of  the  lid 
when  a  large  object  suddenly  approached  the  eye  with- 
out touching  it ;  for  the  rapid  approach  is  in  itself  not 
pleasing.  For  the  rest,  the  winking  on  occasion  of  a 
strong,  unexpected  impression  remained,  after  it  had 
once  appeared,  as  an  acquired  reflex  movement,  which 
returned  on  every  provocation  of  that  sort.  Thus,  it 
followed  with  uncommon  quickness  upon  a  puff  of  wind 
in  the  face  (e.  g.,  in  the  twenty-fifth  week).  The  child 
stared  with  an  inquiring  gaze  in  the  direction  whence 
the  current  of  air  came,  after  he  had  responded  to  it 
with  the  eyelids. 


28  THE   MIXD   OF   THE   CHILD. 

It  is  not  allowable  to  assume,  in  explanation  of  this 
reflex  movement,  that  the  idea  of  danger  must  first  be 
formed  in  order  to  produce  the  closure  of  the  eyes,  as 
many  suppose.  In  that  case  there  would  be  no  purely 
reflex  action,  but  a  habit.  But  the  time  is  too  short  for 
the  production  of  an  idea  along  with  the  volitional  im- 
pulse to  lower  the  lid,  and  a  child  of  nine  weeks  has  not 
yet  the  idea  of  danger.  lie  does  not  know  that,  with 
the  sudden  change  in  the  distribution  of  light  and  shade 
in  the  Held  of  vision,  at  the  approach  of  the  hand,  there 
may  be  joined  a  danger  to  himself ;  and  he  winks  just 
the  same  at  a  sudden  noise,  even  on  the  twenty-fifth  day 
of  his  life. 

Had  he  the  idea  of  danger,  he  would  start  back  with 
the  head  or  the  upper  part  of  his  body  at  the  quick  ap- 
proach of  my  hand  or  my  head,  as  he  does  later.  AVe 
should  be  forced  to  adopt  the  auxiliary  hypothesis  that 
an  experience  made  by  the  child's  ancestors  in  a  more 
mature  period  of  life  led  to  a  habit  which  then  mani- 
fested itself  in  the  descendants  early  in  life  as  an  heredi- 
tary habit.  This  Darwinian  view  is  superfluous,  because 
the  disagreeable  feeling  that  is  connected  with  every 
unexpected,  sudden,  and  strong  sense-impression,  is  of 
itself  sufficient  to  induce  the  closing  of  the  lid.  For  so 
long  as  the  child  can  not  rightly  separate  his  sense-im- 
pressions, especially  those  of  sight,  so  long  as  he  does 
not  plainly  discern  the  rapid  changes  in  a  moderately 
bright  field  of  vision,  he  can  not  be  disagreeably  affected 
by  these  changes.  But  if  he  is  sufficiently  developed  to 
observe  sudden  and  important  changes,  then  he  will  ex- 
perience a  disagreeable  feeling,  will  be  frightened,  and 
the  immediate  consequence  of  this  will  be  the  warding 


SIGHT.  29 

off  of  that  which  offends  him — he  will  shut  the  eyelids. 
Thus,  the  shutting  of  the  eyes  at  the  sudden  impression 
of  light  is  seen  to  be  akin  to  the  keeping  of  them  tightly 
shut  when  exposed  to  bright  light  during  the  first  days 
of  life;  and  it  remains  only  to  explain  the  difference, 
that  at  the  beginning  the  eye  remains  closed  longer,  for 
the  newly-born  do  not  wink.  This  difference,  merely 
quantitative,  is  probably  due  to  the  less  rapid  propaga- 
tion of  the  nerve  excitement,  to  the  greater  extent  of 
time  involved  in  the  reflex,  and  especially  to  the  greater 
intensity  and  duration  of  the  stimulus.  Dazzling  light 
causes  to  adults  likewise  a  more  disagreeable  feeling 
than  does  the  rapid  approach  of  a  strange  hand.  Light- 
ning produces  a  momentary  closing  of  the  lids ;  a  sur- 
face of  snow,  brightly  illuminated  by  the  sun,  occasions 
shutting  of  the  eyes  and  blinking,  and  even  the  tight 
compression  of  the  eyelids. 

The  lessening  of  the  space  between  the  lids,  and  the 
complete  closing  of  the  eyes,  in  shutting  them  tightly,  is 
effected,  upon  the  whole,  by  the  contraction  of  the  mus- 
cle that  closes  the  eye  (musculus  orbicularis),  whereas 
the  dropping  of  the  upper  lid  in  winking  is  produced 
by  the  contraction  of  the  lid-muscles  (musculi  palpe- 
brales)  alone ;  and  blinking,  proper,  at  the  sight  of  a 
dazzlingly  bright  object,  by  the  contraction  of  the  ex- 
ternal parts  of  the  orbicular  muscle  (particularly  the 
orbital  and  cheek  muscle).  All  these  orbicular  filaments 
are  supplied  by  the  facial  nerve  (nervus  facialis)  as  their 
only  motor  nerve.  As  the  reflex  from  the  optic  nerve 
is  perfect  from  the  first  day  of  existence,  since  bright 
light  causes  tight  closing  of  the  eyes,  it  follows  that 
the  reflex  arc  from  the  optic  nerve  to  this  branch  of  the 


30  THE  MIND   OF  THE   CHILD. 

facialis,  as  well  as  that  to  the  iris  branch  of  the  oculo- 
motorras,  must  be  inborn. 

The  quick  shutting  and  opening  of  the  eye  in  case 
of  surprise  also  becomes  more  intelligible  if  we  dismiss 
the  hypothesis  of  the  idea  of  danger — an  idea  that  is  as 
yet  foreign  to  the  child — and  consider  rather  that  every 
surprise,  even  a  joyous  one,  is  at  the  first  instant  akin  to 
fright,  on  account  of  the  unexpectedness  it  brings  with 
it — the  sudden  impression  on  the  senses.  Sudden  dan- 
ger is  only  a  special  case.  Even  in  adults  an  unexpected 
loud  sound  occasions  invariably  the  winking  movement 
of  the  lids. 

On  the  twenty-fifth  day  my  child  fixed  his  eyes  for 
the  first  time  upon  the  face  of  his  nurse,  then  upon  mine 
and  his  mother's,  and  when  I  nodded  he  opened  his  eyes 
wider,  and  shut  and  opened  the  lids  several  times.  The 
same  movements  appeared  when  I  for  the  first  time 
spoke  to  him  in  a  deep  voice,  as  I  did  on  the  day  men- 
tioned.    It  was  a  reflex  movement  of  surprise. 

At  the  end  of  the  seventh  month,  a  green  fan  being 
rapidly  opened  and  clapped  together  at  a  distance  of 
half  a  metre  from  his  face,  my  child  shut  and  opened 
his  eyes  quickly  every  time  with  an  expression  of  the 
greatest  astonishment,  until  I  had  repeated  the  experi- 
ment a  good  many  times  in  succession  ;  and  even  then 
there  remained  a  boundless  surprise  at  the  disappearance 
and  reappearance  of  the  large,  round  surface.  This  was 
discernible  in  his  immovability,  following  upon  previous 
agitation,  and  in  the  intensity  of  his  gaze.  The  play 
of  the  lid  is  also  observed  in  case  of  other  new  move- 
ments, especially  rhythmical  ones,  as  in  hearing  new 
noises ;  and  then  the  mouth  often  remains  open,  and 


SIGHT.  31 

the  eyes  are  wide  open,  jet  there  is  no  lifting  of  the 
eyebrows  (in  the  eighth  month). 

But  not  only  surprise,  strong  desire  is  likewise  as- 
sociated with  the  keeping  of  the  lids  open  to  the  maxi- 
mum extent.  When,  in  the  thirty-fourth  week,  I  took 
away  from  the  babe  his  milk,  he  gazed  at  it  rigidly, 
and  opened  his  eyes  wide,  and  they  took  on  an  ex- 
pression of  indescribable  longing.  Moreover,  sounds  of 
desire  were  often  expressed  imperfectly,  with  closed  lips, 
and  this  continued  as  a  habit  with  him  in  the  second 
year.  The  eyes  were,  besides,  noticeably  more  lustrous 
than  usual,  when  the  child  was  mastered  by  strong  de- 
sire, surprise,  or  joy,  which  is  to  be  explained  as  the 
consequence  of  an  excitement  of  the  secretory  nerve  of 
the  lachrymal  gland  (ramus  lacrymalis  trigemini)  ac- 
companying the  psychical  excitement,  rather  than  as 
the  result  of  compression  of  the  gland  through  increased 
supply  of  blood. 

More  important  in  regard  to  psychogenesis  is  the 
fact,  established  by  me  concerning  all  infants,  that  from 
birth  they  manifest  a  high  degree  of  pleasurable  feeling 
by  wide-open  eyes ;  unpleasant  feeling  by  shutting  the 
eyes  and  holding  them  firmly  together.  In  reference 
to  the  first,  it  surprised  me  that  when  the  child  was 
placed  at  his  mother's  breast,  and  even  just  before  be- 
ing placed  there,  the  eyes  were  regularly  stretched 
open,  and  almost  always  remained  wide  open  when  he 
began  to  suck.  This  was  observed  in  increasing  meas- 
ure on  the  third,  sixteenth,  and  twenty-first  days.  But 
also,  in  a  warm  bath  of  35°  C,  the  eyes  were  wide  open 
in  the  first  three  weeks,  and,  although  the  child  did  not 
laugh,  his  countenance  took  on  a  pleasant  expression 


32  TITE   MIND   OF   THE    CHILD. 

from  the  widening  of  the  opening  between  the  lids. 
Audible  and  visible  laughing,  which  appeared  first  on 
the  twenty-third  day,  is  simply  an  advanced  stage  of 
this  expression  of  pleasure,  in  which  "  the  eyes  laugh/' 
Certain  mild  impressions  of  light  also  produce  a  wide 
opening  of  the  eyes ;  this  was  often  observed  from  the 
first  day  on,  as  has  been  already  stated.  In  the  case  of 
another  child,  which  cried  out  immediately  after  its 
head  emerged  from  the  womb,  I  put  my  finger,  three 
minutes  later,  into  the  child's  mouth  and  pressed  on  the 
tongue.  At  once  all  crying  ceased,  a  brisk  sucking  be- 
gan, and  the  expression  of  the  countenance,  which  had 
been  hitherto  discontented,  became  suddenly  altered. 
The  child,  not  yet  fully  born,  seemed  co  experience 
something  agreeable,  and  therewith — during  the  suck- 
ing of  the  finger — the  eyes  were  widely  opened.  All 
these  observations  decidedly  support  the  opinion  that 
pleasure  is  expressed  by  wide-open  eyes,  so  far  as  these 
will  bear  the  light  of  day — in  twilight  and  moderate 
artificial  light,  even  from  the  moment  of  birth.  Equal- 
ly certain  is  it  that  discomfort  is  manifested  by  shutting 
the  eyes. 

The  eyes  are  generally  shut  together  at  the  first  cry 
of  the  child,  and  later  the  rule  is  that  all  outcry  on  ac- 
count of  painful  or  unpleasant  feelings,  e.  g.,  hunger, 
brings  with  it  a  gripping  of  the  eyes  together,  or,  at  any 
rate,  a  considerable  lessening  of  the  opening  between 
the  lids.  And  the  screwing  up  of  the  eyes  without 
crying  and  without  any  vocal  utterance,  but  often  with 
turning  away  of  the  head — e.  g.,  in  the  second  half  of  the 
first  year,  when  the  teeth  are  coming  or  when  the  gums 
are  examined — is  an  indubitable  sign  of  discomfort. 


SIGHT.  33 

Afterward  follows  the  closing  of  the  lids  at  all  sudden 
strong  sense-impressions,  because  these  bring  in  their 
train  unpleasant  feelings ;  and  with  feelings  of  pleasure 
the  eyes  are  opened.  If  that  inborn  expressive  move- 
ment is  frequently  repeated,  then  it  takes  place  with 
greater  and  greater  rapidity,  and  becomes  at  hist  pure 
reflex  movement,  occurring  at  all  sufficiently  strong, 
new,  sudden  impressions,  before  feelings  of  pleasure  or 
of  discomfort  can  be  developed. 

The  already  mentioned  hereditary  reflex  from  the 
trigeminus  to  the  orbicular  branch  of  the  facialis — the 
existence  of  which  is  manifested  on  the  first  day  by  the 
closing  of  the  lid  when  the  hairs  of  the  eyelash  are 
touched,  or  when  the  conjunctiva  or  the  cornea  is 
touched — this,  too,  might  be,  at  first,  a  defense  against 
the  disagreeable,  an  expressive  movement  of  displeas- 
ure ;  since  every  touch,  even  the  lightest,  of  the  ex- 
posed parts  of  the  eye,  so  abundantly  supplied  with 
nerves,  is  unexpected  and  disagreeable.  The  corre- 
sponding reflex  path  is  traveled  with  less  swiftness  at 
first,  because  at  this  time  the  feeling  of  displeasure 
probably  inserts  itself  between  the  centripetal  and  the 
centrifugal  processes — not  to  mention  the  less  rapid 
propagation  of  the  nerve-excitation.  Later,  the  reflex 
closing  of  the  lid  will  come  mechanically,  after  contact, 
without  previous  feeling  of  discomfort,  and  even  with 
the  appearance  of  the  most  deliberate  purpose  of  de- 
fense. It  is  as  if  one  said,  "  I  shut  my  eye  because  it 
might  be  hurt " — in  reality,  however,  there  is  no  delib- 
eration. 

The  difference  between  this  hereditary  trigeminus- 
f  acialis  -  reflex    and   the   hereditary  opticus  -  iris  -  reflex 


34  THE   MIND   OF   THE   CHILD. 

shows  plainly  the  difference  between  reflexes  of  ancient 
inheritance  (palseophyletic)  and  reflexes  inherited  more 
recently  (neophyletic).  For  the  adaptation  of  the  pupil 
to  bright  light,  which  appears  at  once  and  invariably  in 
the  newly-born,  and  in  animals  without  eyelids,  must 
have  been  inherited  at  an  earlier  epoch  than  was  the 
closing  of  the  lid  upon  the  eye's  being  touched,  be- 
cause the  latter  does  not  occur  so  promptly  in  the  new- 
ly-born. But  the  new-born  holds  the  eyes  shut  when 
dazzlingly  bright  light  is  thrown  upon  them,  and  in 
general  when  it  feels  discomfort,  as  does  the  maltreated 
frog.  Out  of  this  act  of  holding  the  eyes  tightly  shut 
has  probably  been  differentiated  the  sudden,  brief  clos- 
ing of  the  lid  (opticus-facialis-reflex)  that  follows  all 
sudden  sense-impressions,  and  that  still  in  the  present 
generation,  as  an  acquired  reflex,  even  one  that  may  be 
inhibited  by  the  will,  stands  in  contrast  with  the  two 
other  hereditary  reflexive  movements  of  defense. 

4.  Movements  of  the  Eyes. 

The  eye-movements  of  the  newly-born  and  of  infants 
are  of  great  interest  in  their  bearing  upon  the  history  of 
the  origin  of  the  perceptions  of  space.  The  contending 
parties,  the  Nativists  and  the  Empiricists,*  in  support 
of  their  views,  make  their  appeal  expressly  to  the  child 
that  has  had  no  experience.  The  Nativists  maintain 
that  a  pre-established  mechanism  produces  from  the  be- 
ginning co-ordinated,  associated  eye-movements  in  the 
newly-born.  The  Empiricists  hold  that  this  is  not  the 
case,  but  that  the  eye-movements  of  the  newly-born  are 

*  See  "Elements  of   Physiological  Psychology,"  by  George   T. 
Ladd  (1887),  for  explanation  of  these  terms. 


SIGHT.  35 

asymmetric  and  non-coordinated ;  that  the  intentional 
use  of  the  muscles  of  the  eye  is  learned  only  through  ex- 
perience, and  that  binocular  vision,  such  as  adults  have, 
becomes  afterward  possible  through  the  association  of 
the  movements  of  both  eyes  in  "  fixating  "  an  object. 

My  observations  show  that,  with  regard  to  the  sim- 
ple matter  of  fact,  both  parties  are  right.  Some  new- 
born children  actually  make  associated,  co-ordinated 
movements  of  the  eyes  several  times  on  the  iirst  day ; 
others  do  not.  In  some  cases  I  saw  both  these  facts  in 
the  same  child,  but  I  never  found  in  any  child  co-ordi- 
nated movements  exclusively. 

I  saw  my  child  before  the  close  of  the  first  day  of 
his  life  turn  both  eyes  at  the  same  time  to  the  right, 
then  to  the  left,  frequently,  hither  and  thither,  his  head 
being  still ;  then,  again,  he  would  do  it  moving  the  head 
in  accord.  During  the  whole  time  his  face  was  turned 
toward  the  window,  in  the  twilight.  Nay,  only  five 
minutes  after  his  birth,  when  I  held  him  in  the  dusk 
toward  the  window,  an  associated  movement  of  the  eyes 
took  place.  And  when  I  began  to  observe  new-born 
children,  it  happened  that  I  saw  a  child  thirty-five  min- 
utes after  birth  (January  4,  1809)  move  his  eyes  only  as 
an  adult  is  accustomed  to  do,  in  accord. 

Donders  and  Hering,  also,  have  perceived  such 
movements  of  the  eyes  in  the  newly-born.  The  ob- 
servation requires  only  patience,  because  the  newly- 
born  spend  the  first  twenty-four  hours  mostly  in  sleep, 
and  when  awake  they  cry  a  good  deal,  and  their  eyes 
do  not  remain  open. 

If  we  were  to  rest  satisfied  with  noticing  such  facts 
as  these,  we  should  come  to  quite   erroneous  results. 


36  THE   MIND   OF   THE   CHILD. 

More  accurate  and  often  repeated  observation  of  the 
eye-movements  of  the  child,  especially  during  the  first 
six  days,  taught  me  that  the  simultaneous  turning  of 
both  eyes  to  the  right  or  to  the  left  is  not  co-ordinated 
with  complete  symmetry,  as  it  is  in  adults.  In  the 
cases  of  a  child  ten  hours  old,  and  of  one  of  six  days, 
their  eyes  being  wide  open,  I  saw  eye-movements  that 
were  associated,  and  only  such,  but  which  showed  them- 
selves, on  more  accurate  observation,  to  be  not  perfectly 
in  accord.  On  the  whole,  I  have  found  that,  in  the 
newly-born,  one  eye  very  often  moves  independently  of 
the  other,  and  the  turnings  of  the  head  take  place  in  a 
direction  opposite  to  that  in  which  the  eyes  move.  The 
unintentional  character  of  both  movements  is  plainly 
recognizable,  and  the  combination  of  the  two  is,  at  the 
beginning  of  life,  accidental.  The  turning  of  both  eyes 
to  left  and  right,  also,  which  is  established  on  the  first 
day,  takes  on  the  appearance  of  accident,  coming  in  as 
one  among  all  possible  movements. 

As  the  other  muscles  of  the  body  and  of  the  face  are 
contracted,  without  intention,  by  the  very  young  infant, 
so  also  are  the  muscles  of  the  eye. 

For  this  reason  we  may  observe  all  sorts  of  non-coor- 
dinated movements  of  the  eyes  accompanying  grimaces, 
wrinkling  of  the  brows,  and  movements  of  the  lips,  in 
cases  where  there  is  no  possibility  of  sight  or  of  sensi- 
bility to  light,  the  lids  being  closed — e.  g.,  on  the  tenth 
day — while  the  child  is  not  crying,  but  is  lying  still. 
Sometimes  it  falls  asleep  with  eyes  half  open,  as  may 
be  known  by  its  regular  breathing  and  by  the  repose  of 
its  limbs,  and  then  also  are  seen  various  unintentional 
movements  of  the  eyes.     Among  those  wdiich  attract 


SIGHT.  37 

notice  when  the  child  is  awake  are  movements  of  de- 
cided convergence.  The  child  looks  like  a  squinting 
child.  But  at  the  beginning  of  the  third  week  of  life 
the  maximum  degree  of  convergence  and  the  strabis- 
mus are  by  no  means  so  frequent  as  in  the  first ;  the 
irregularity  of  the  movements  of  the  eyes,  which  others 
also  have  observed  in  many  new-born  children,  is  still 
clearly  pronounced.  Schceler  saw  in  the  first  days,  un- 
til the  fourth,  only  non -coordinated  movements,  and  un- 
til the  tenth  day  no  perfectly  correct  fixation.  Here 
his  observation  ceased.  On  the  thirty-first  day,  in  my 
child,  strabismus  was  noticed  as  rare  ;  on  the  forty-sixth, 
as  very  rare ;  on  the  forty-eighth  and  fiftieth,  the  same ; 
and  irregular  movements  in  general,  as  very  rare  from 
the  fifty-fifth  day  on ;  but  they  did  appear  until  the 
tenth  week,  while  the  child  was  awake.  During  sleep, 
however,  he  moved  his  eyes  asymmetrically  as  late  as 
the  sixtieth  day  in  a  lively  manner,  often  the  lids,  too, 
on  both  sides,  the  eyes  being  half  open  and  his  snoring 
uninterrupted.  When  he  had  attained  the  age  of  three 
months,  non-coordinated  movements  of  the  eyes  were  no 
more  to  be  observed.  After  this  I  watched  the  sleep- 
ing child,  however,  only  now  and  then,  and  in  the  ninth 
month  I  noticed  an  occasional  slight  irregularity. 

This  consolidation  of  the  mechanism  of  the  muscles 
of  the  eye  does  not,  however,  by  any  means  involve  the 
cessation  of  useless  co-ordinated  movements  of  the  eyes, 
as  is  shown  by  several  experiences.  Thus,  the  gaze  of 
one  child  in  the  twenty-third  week  was  almost  regularly 
directed  toward  his  forehead.  This  child,  troubled  with 
an  itching  eczema  on  the  head,  would,  at  that  time,  let 
his  head  swing  hither  and  thither  when  his  hands  were 


3$  THE    MIXD   OF   THE   CHILD. 

held,  in  case  anything  whatever,  were  it  only  a  pillow, 
touched  his  head. 

The  eyes  of  my  child  easily  converged  in  the  ninth 
month  without  any  assignable  cause,  and  upon  objects 
held  before  his  nose  at  a  distance  of  one  or  two  inches. 

In  the  tenth  month  the  convergence  of  the  lines  of 
vision  seemed  disturbed;  a  very  insignificant  squinting 
inward  appeared,  but  this  anomaly  vanished  completely 
a  few  weeks  later,  after  I  had  directed  that  he  should 
spend  more  time  out-of-doors,  in  order  to  favor  his  see- 
ing at  a  distance.  From  that  time  the  movements  of 
the  eyes  continued  to  be  normal.  The  readiness  with 
which  convergence  of  the  eyes,  upon  my  finger,  held  at 
the  end  of  my  boy's  nose,  occurred  (as  late  as  the  twen- 
tieth month),  is  remarkable,  as  well  as  the  fact  that  at 
the  beginning  such  high  degrees  of  convergence  occur 
along  with  pupils  relatively  very  wide  open,  which  is 
not  the  case  with  adults. 

All  these  observations  are  absolutely  favorable  to  the 
opinion  that  conscious  vision  has  decisive  influence  upon 
the  regulation  of  the  eye-movements ;  that  only  after 
discrimination  of  the  light-impressions  by  the  optic 
nerve-center  do  harmonious  centro-motor  impulses  pro- 
ceed from  the  nerves  of  the  muscles  of  the  eye  (the 
motor  oculi,  abducens,  trochlearis  of  both  eyes),  and 
that  at  the  beginning,  before  the  faculty  of  sight  mani- 
fests itself — i.  e.,  so  long  as  only  the  function  of  sensi- 
bility to  light  is  active — the  eye-movements  are  not  asso- 
ciated and  not  co-ordinated.  Even  when  they  are  found 
symmetrical  we  can  not,  in  face  of  a  majority  or  of  a 
very  great  number  of  irregular  eye-movements,  infer  a 
pre-established,  complete  nerve-mechanism,  having  bi- 


SIGHT.  39 

lateral  symmetry  and  capable  of  functioning  at  birth, 
such  as  exists  in  the  case  of  sucking.  For,  if  man 
brought  such  a  mechanism  with  him  into  the  world  (as 
the  chicken  and  other  animals  do),  how  could  he  come 
to  make  so  many  irregular,  purposeless  movements  of 
the  eyes  before  making  permanent  use  of  tins  mechan- 
ism '. 

The  general  rule  is,  that  out  of  concurring  non-co- 
ordinated movements  of  the  muscles  there  grow  gradu- 
ally co-ordinated  ones ;  so,  here,  with  the  muscles  of  the 
eyes.  And,  after  the  co-ordinated  movements  have  be- 
come confirmed  in  the  act  of  sight,  there  takes  place, 
little  by  little,  an  elimination  of  the  superfluous  ones,  a 
preference  of  those  that  are  useful  for  distinct  vision 
with  both  eyes.  Just  so  the  unregulated  movements  of 
the  legs  at  the  time  of  learning  to  walk  become  more 
and  more  rare,  and  of  the  co-ordinated  ones,  the  most 
useful  alone  are  retained,  those  which  do  the  most  serv- 
ice with  the  least  effort. 

It  is  surprising  that  representatives  of  the  nativistic 
theory  should,  notwithstanding,  urge  in  their  own  sup- 
port the  results  of  the  investigations  in  regard  to  the 
newly-born — e.  g.,  Raehlman  and  Witkowski,  as  fol- 
lows :  "  As  for  the  character  of  the  eye-movements  in 
the  newly-born,  they  are  in  some  respects  similar  to 
those  made  in  sleep,  but  in  many  respects  not  similar. 
They  are  so  far  similar  that  they  are  often  entirely  non- 
coordinated  ;  sometimes,  though  more  seldom,  of  one 
side  only ;  not  similar,  in  that  they  generally  follow 
much  more  rapidly,  and  in  a  very  great  majority  of 
cases  appear  to  be  of  both  sides  and  often  co-ordinated. 
Even  at  the  first  spontaneous  opening  of  the  space  be- 


40  THE    MIND   OF   THE   CHILD. 

tween  the  lids,  following  directly  upon  birth,  we  saw 
apparently  co-ordinated  lateral  movements,  which,  how- 
ever, in  extent  and  intensity,  were  of  irregular  character. 
The  eyes  moved  for  some  minutes  incessantly  hither 
and  thither  with  a  vast  range,  such  as  they  do  not  take 
later  in  the  regulated  act  of  vision.  Among  these  we 
saw,  to  be  sure,  non-coordinated  movements  enter  sud- 
denly, movements  in  which  the  principle  of  association 
had  absolutely  no  part." 

With  this  my  observations  are  in  full  accord.  And 
what  the  observers  report  of  the  eye-movements  of  sleep- 
ing children  (whose  lids  were  lifted  up  without  their 
waking)  also  agrees  in  many  particulars  therewith  and 
with  the  statements  of  Schceler:  "As  to  the  form  of 
such  movements  we  find,  first,  lateral  turnings  that  are 
associated — i.  e.,  they  take  place  bilaterally  and  with 
seeming  co-ordination.  These  are  rare  in  sleep,  yet 
they  seem  to  occur ;  at  any  rate,  it  may  be  said  decidedly 
that  non-coordinated  movements  of  the  eyes  are  the  most 
frequent  ones.  We  see,  e.  g.,  both  eyes  move  slowly 
to  the  right ;  the  apparently  associated  side-movement 
is,  however,  not  equal  on  the  two  sides,  but  is  of  varying 
force,  now  in  one  eye  now  in  the  other,  so  that  conver- 
gences and  divergences  are  introduced  alternately. 

Moreover,  there  are  frequently  quite  abnormal,  dia- 
metrically opposed  movements  of  the  two  eyes ;  one  eye 
moves  slowly  to  the  right,  the  other  to  the  left ;  or  the 
right  eye  upward  to  the  right,  while  the  left  moves  up- 
ward to  the  left.  Finally,  there  occur  vertical  variations 
of  both  eyes  of  such  sort  that,  e.  g.,  while  the  right  eye 
turns  to  the  left  and  somewhat  downward,  the  left  eye 
turns  to  the  left  and  at  the  same  time  somewhat  up- 


SIGHT.  41 

ward.  The  most  remarkable  observation,  however,  is 
that  absolutely  one-sided  movements  occur.  While,  e.  g., 
the  right  eye  seems  to  fix  the  observer,  the  left  eye  is 
seen  to  move  sidewise." 

Although  all  these  observations  relate  to  the  eyes 
of  children  (and  adults)  in  sleep,  they  are  all,  accord- 
ing to  my  experience,  perfectly  applicable  to  waking 
infants  in  their  first  days. 

5.  Direction  of  the  Look. 

The  ability  to  "  fixate "  a  bright  object  is  utterly 
lacking  in  the  new-born  child,  because  he  is  not  yet  in 
condition  to  move  the  muscles  of  the  eye  at  his  pleasure, 
and  every  fixation  is  an  act  of  will.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  ability  to  turn  the  head  toward  a  bright  object  so 
that  this  can  produce  an  image  on  the  retina  is  often 
present  on  the  first  day  of  life.  And  the  gaze  of  a  new- 
bora  child  as  he  lies  quiet,  with  open  eyes,  is  seen  di- 
rected to  the  candle  that  is  held  before  him  in  passing. 
But,  in  fact,  the  very  young  babe  stares,  motionless,  with 
a  stupid  expression  of  countenance,  into  empty  space, 
and  merely  seems  to  "  fixate  "  the  object  that  is  brought 
into  his  line  of  vision.  For  the  staring  with  unchanged 
position  of  the  eyes  does  not  cease  when  the  object  is 
removed.  The  look  does  not  yet  follow  the  removed 
object,  neither  does  the  head.  Yet  the  eyes  move  on 
the  seventh  day  independently  of  the  turnings  of  the 
head,  and  converge  strongly. 

It  has  indeed  been  observed  by  Kussmaul  that  indi- 
viduals among  children  prematurely  born  (two  months 
too  soon)  lying  with  head  turned  away  from  the  window 
in  the  dusk  of  evening  on  the  second  day  of  life,  repeat- 


42  THE   MIXD   OF   THE   CHILD. 

edly  turned  the  head  to  the  window  and  the  light  when  a 
change  was  made  in  their  position  ;  and  I  have  observed 
the  same  thing  in  the  fully-matured  infant  regularly  on 
the  sixth  day ;  but  this  is  merely  a  case  of  desire  in  a 
primitive  form,  not  a  case  of  the  gaze  following  an  ob- 
ject. The  object  that  is  apparently  sought  is  motionless, 
and  is  not  a  recognized  cause  of  sensation.  The  nature 
of  the  experience  is  rather  this:  such  and  such  a  position 
of  the  body  or  of  the  head  is  associated  with  an  agree- 
able sensation — in  this  instance  an  agreeable  sensation 
of  light — and  is  therefore  preferred  ;  another  position, 
a  disagreeable  one,  in  which  the  face  is  shaded,  is  avoid- 
ed. Just  so  the  head  is  turned  to  the  warm,  smooth 
breast  of  the  mother,  and  the  turning  away  from  it  is 
felt  as  disagreeable,  even  in  the  dark. 

Accordingly,  the  turning  of  the  head  toward  a  motion- 
less, moderately  bright  light,  that  has  been  noticed  in 
some  children  even  in  the  first  days,  can  not  be  regarded 
as  a  voluntary  direction  of  the  gaze.  At  the  beginning 
there  is  nothing  but  staring  when  the  eyes  are  opened, 
and  even  on  the  ninth  day  the  turning  away  from  daz- 
zling light  is  no  sign  of  knowledge  of  direction. 

Here  again  I  agree  entirely  with  Raehlman  and 
Witkowski,  when  they  report  that  they  have  never  seen 
movements  of  real  fixation  up  to  the  tenth  day.  "  It 
may  occasionally  happen  that  upon  a  certain  change  of 
the  position  of  the  lighted  candle,  or  through  some  move- 
ments of  the  child's  eyes,  the  eye  is  accidentally  put  in 
position  for  the  light ;  i.  e.,  an  image  arises  on  the  yel- 
low spot,  but  this  apparently  intentional  relation  of  posi- 
tion between  the  eye  and  the  object  is  a  purely  accidental 
one,  and  assuredly  is  not  based  upon  a  conscious  fixation." 


SIGHT.  43 

When  Darwin  says  that  on  the  ninth  day  the  eyes 
were  directed  to  the  lighted  candle,  the  meaning  is 
simply  that  the  flame  was  placed  in  the  line  of  the  fixed 
gaze ;  but  when  he  adds  that  up  to  the  forty-fifth  day 
nothing  has  seemed  thus  to  fasten  the  eyes,  it  must  be 
that  the  critical  period  of  the  beginning  of  fixation 
passed  unnoticed. 

The  second  stage  is  made  known  by  the  turning  of 
the  head  from  one  motionless,  extended,  bright  surface 
in  the  field  of  vision  to  another.  On  the  eleventh  day 
my  child  held  his  gaze  from  one  to  two  minutes  steadily 
upon  my  face,  and  turned  his  head  towTard  the  light, 
which  appeared  close  by  in  the  field  of  vision.  In  like 
manner  behaved  a  female  child,  who  on  the  fourteenth 
day  directed  her  gaze,  which  had  been  fastened  upon 
her  father's  face,  to  some  one  who  came  up,  and  at  the 
sight  of  this  person's  head-covering  the  child's  gaze  be- 
came rooted  as  if  with  surprise.* 

At  this  time  and  later  it  is  noticed  also  that  the  in- 
fant gazes  preferably  upward  toward  the  wrhite  ceiling 
of  the  room.  But  the  upward  look  that  grows  out  of 
this,  through  which  the  human  infant  is  said  to  be  es- 
sentially distinguished  frcm  the  animal,  depends  with- 
out doubt  upon  his  horizontal  position  in  the  arms  of 
his  mother  or  nurse.  If  the  babe  were  never  carried  in 
this  manner,  it  would  hardly  look  upward  often. 

The  third  stage  is  attained  with  the  following  of  a 
bright  object  in  motion,  and  is  characterized  by  the 
associated  movement  of  the  eyes  while  the  head  is  mo- 
tionless. 

It  was  on  the  twenty-third  day  of  his  life  that  my 

*  Frau  Prof,  von  Strumpell. 


44  TIIE   MIND   OF   THE   CHILD. 

child,  who  was  gazing  at  the  candle  burning  steadily  at 
the  distance  of  one  metre  before  him,  turned  both  his 
eyes  to  the  left  when  I  moved  the  candle  to  the  left, 
and  to  the  right  when  the  candle  was  moved  to  the 
right.  As  soon  as  I  held  the  burning  candle  up,  both 
his  eyes  were  directed  upward  toward  the  light,  without 
any  movement  of  the  head.  At  the  same  time  his  face 
suddenly  assumed  a  surprisingly  intelligent  expression, 
not  before  observed.  When  the  light  was  moved  side- 
wise  the  head  was  moved,  often  ;  but  generally  the  eyes 
alone  moved.  It  would  also  happen  that  the  movements 
of  the  eyes  were  accompanied  by  a  slight  sympathetic 
movement  of  the  head.  The  motion  of  the  candle  had 
to  be  very  slow  always,  otherwise  it  was  not  followed. 

Twenty  times  that  day,  certainly,  I  repeated  the  ex- 
periment, the  result  of  which  greatly  surprised  me,  as 
other  children  do  not  follow  a  moving  light  with  their 
eyes  till  after  many  months.  I  had,  to  be  sure,  made 
the  trial  almost  every  day  since  the  birth  of  my  child, 
and  thereby  the  mechanism  of  convergence  may  have 
got  an  earlier  start. 

Two  days  later,  and  seven  days  later,  the  same  trial 
was  made  with  the  slowly-moved  candle  or  with  my 
hand  only.  Whenever  the  movement  was  slow  enough, 
the  child  followed  it  with  his  look,  moving  sometimes  the 
eyes  only,  sometimes  head  and  eyes  in  accord.  Every 
time  that  both  eyes  moved  with  the  light,  the  counte- 
nance assumed  again  the  contented,  intelligent  expression 
which  it  had  never  worn  until  the  twenty-third  day. 
With  that  day  began  also  active  looking  (as  distinguished 
from  staring).  The  outstretched  hand,  the  flame  of  the 
candle,  faces  when  they  came  into  the  field  of  vision, 


SIGHT.  45 

were  looked  at,  one  can  not  jet  say  "fixated,"  because 
with  this  word  is  associated  the  notion  of  voluntary, 
distinct  vision.  But  from  this  time  forth  the  gaze  of 
the  child  was  actively  directed,  daily,  without  any  con- 
trived occasion,  to  bright  surfaces  in  the  field  of  vision 
such  as  have  been  mentioned. 

It  is  to  be  noted  that  no  part  is  played  in  this  prog- 
ress by  the  cerebral  cortex.  For  Longet  removed  care- 
fully the  cerebral  hemispheres  of  a  pigeon,  sparing  the 
corpora  quadrigemina  and  the  rest  of  the  brain,  kept 
the  bird  alive  for  eighteen  days,  and  saw  that  in  the  dark 
not  only  did  the  sudden  approach  of  a  light  produce 
contraction  of  the  iris  and  blinking,  but  also  as  soon  as 
he  moved  the  burning  candle  in  a  circle  the  creature 
made  a  corresponding  movement  of  the  head.  To  this 
act,  then,  the  cerebrum  is  not  indispensable.  But  after 
the  destruction  of  the  corpora  quadrigemina  the  trial 
yields  no  results. 

While  by  means  of  such  observations  the  transition 
from  staring  to  looking  could  be  marked  with  tolerable 
accuracy,  the  passage  from  looking  to  observing  and 
"fixating"  objects  was  not  so  sharply  defined.  In  the 
fifth  week  the  Christmas-tree,  with  its  many  lights,  was 
looked  at  with  pleasure ;  in  the  seventh  the  child  fol- 
lowed with  both  eyes  a  lamp  carried  by  some  one,  a 
glittering  gold  chain,  or  the  movements  of  his  mother's 
head,  much  more  quickly  and  exactly  than  before. 
When  looking  persistently  at  a  face  quite  near,  his 
mouth  is  pursed  in  a  remarkable  manner,  as  is  often 
seen  to  be  the  case  in  adults  when  there  is  a  great  strain 
of  the  attention. 

A  week  earlier  even,  on   the  thirty-ninth  day,  the 


46  THE   MIND   OF   THE   CHILD. 

swinging  movement  of  tassels  close  in  front  of  the 
child's  face  would  elicit  a  pleased  expression  and  a  cry 
of  delight.  It  happened  also  that  the  child,  when  he 
had  been  moving  actively  in  his  bed,  and  so  had  unin- 
tentionally shaken  it,  suddenly  became  still,  and  laughed 
when  the  blue  tassels  over  his  face  were  set  swinging  in 
consequence  of  the  shaking. 

In  the  following  weeks,  gilded  picture-frames,  that 
shone  brightly  as  they  reflected  the  light  of  the  lamp, 
were  looked  at  for  minutes  at  a  time,  and  the  gaze 
was  lifted  accordingly.  Such  strong  impressions  of 
light  produced  gayety,  just  as  swinging  objects  did. 
On  the  sixty-second  day,  for  example,  the  child  looked 
for  almost  half  an  hour  at  a  swinging  lamp  hanging 
from  the  ceiling,  with  continuous  utterances  of  pleasure. 
The  eyes  did  not,  however,  in  this  case,  follow  closely  the 
separate  oscillations.  Both  eyes,  indeed,  often  moved 
simultaneously  to  the  left  or  to  the  right,  but  not  in 
time  with  the  lamp.  His  pleasure  manifested  itself  by 
movements  of  the  arms,  and  by  sounds  such  as  are  made 
by  a  child  only  when  he  is  pleasurably  excited ;  his  in- 
terest was  shown  by  an  unwavering  gaze. 

The  day  before,  the  child  had  looked  upon  the 
friendly  face  of  his  mother  for  some  minutes  and  then 
given  a  cry  of  joy.  It  was  as  if  for  the  first  time  he 
had  discovered  his  mother.  The  face  of  his  father,  too, 
which  always  exerted  a  quieting  influence  on  the  child 
when  "  worrying,"  became  at  this  time — before  the 
tenth  week — an  occasion  of  gayety.  In  the  case  of  a 
little  girl,  the  same  thing  took  place  in  her  sixth  week.* 

*  Frau  von  Striimpell. 


sigiit.  47 

All  these  facts  indicate  that  motionless  images  on 
the  retina  are  distinguished  from  moving  ones,  although 
distinct  sight  is  not  yet  attained ;  accommodation,  in- 
deed, is  still  wanting. 

With  this  the  fourth  stage  is  reached,  marked  by 
the  ability,  which  is  retained  from  this  time  forth,  to 
direct  the  eyes  toward  an  object.  Right  and  left,  above 
and  below,  are  distinguished,  and  very  soon  the  most 
extended  use  is  made  of  this  ability.  For  now  the 
child  seeks  with  his  eyes  untiringly  for  new  objects, 
when  he  is  awake  and  well.  This  seeking,  i.  e.,  prima- 
rily the  endeavor  to  give  a  definite  direction  to  the  look 
and  to  hold  it  there,  dates  back  to  the  first  three  months. 
In  the  tenth  week,  a  girl-child  looked  for  the  face  of 
the  person  calling  her,  although  it  was  with  difficulty 
that  she  held  her  head  erect.  On  the  other  hand,  a  boy 
of  the  same  age,*  who  was  lying  on  his  back,  could  not 
follow  with  his  eyes  a  cane  that  I  moved  hither  and 
thither  before  him,  but  simply  stared  at  it. 

A  third  child  began,  after  the  end  of  the  sixteenth 
week,  to  look  at  its  hands,  and  in  the  twenty-third  week 
carried  to  its  mouth  the  finger  of  another  person  that 
had  been  put  into  its  hand.f 

When,  on  the  eighty-first  day,  at  a  distance  of  about 
one  metre  from  my  child,  I  rubbed  with  my  wet  finger 
a  tall  drinking-glass,  and  produced  high  tones  new  to 
the  infant,  he  immediately  turned  his  head,  but  did  not 
hit  the  direction  with  his  gaze  ;  sought  for  it,  and,  when 
it  was  found,  held  it  fast.  From  this  time  forth  he  fol- 
lowed with  a  more  animated  look,  much  more  accurate- 

*  Frau  von  Stiiimpell.  \  E.  Schulte. 


48  THE   MIND   OF   THE   CHILD. 

ly,  even  without  movements  of  the  head,  an  outstretched 
hand  not  in  rapid  motion.  When  the  hand  was  moved 
very  quickly,  however,  the  eye  did  not  follow  at  all 
(thirteenth  week).  What  the  child  seemed  to  like  best 
of  all  to  follow  with  his  eyes,  was  a  person  walking 
back  and  forth  in  the  room ;  he  would  turn  the  head 
more  than  ninety  degrees,  and  look  attentively  after  the 
moving  figure  (fourteenth  week). 

On  the  one  hundred  first  day  a  pendulum,  which 
was  making  just  forty  complete  oscillations  to  the  min- 
ute, was  for  the  first  time  followed  surely  and  with  ma- 
chine-like regularity.  This  proves  that  less  than  three 
eighths  of  a  second  is  needed  for  the  lateral  movement 
of  the  eye.  But  for  the  present  such  quick  movements 
are  not  preferred.  When,  in  the  sixteenth  week,  the 
infant  went  with  us  on  a  journey  by  rail,  he  directed  his 
gaze,  not  at  the  images  that  were  swiftly  passing  by  the 
windows,  but  persistently  and  attentively  at  the  sides  and 
ceiling  of  the  carriage,  and  (after  our  arrival)  at  the 
new,  motionless  objects  in  the  room  into  which  he  was 
brought.  The  persistent  gazing  at  the  ceiling  with 
head  leaning  back,  peculiar  to  many  infants,  was  espe- 
cially frequent  at  this  time  and  in  the  nineteenth  week 
(p.  43).  Yet  it  is  becoming  easier  for  him  all  the  time 
to  follow  objects  moved  quickly.  When  I  have  been  oc- 
cupied with  the  child,  if  I  suddenly  get  up  to  leave  the 
room,  the  child  always  turns  his  head  round  exactly  to- 
ward me  very  quickly,  and  looks  after  me  with  great 
eyes,  one  might  almost  say  with  thoughtful,  inquiring 
eyes  (fifth  month).  But  it  was  not  till  the  twenty-ninth 
week  that  I  saw  the  child  look  distinctly,  beyond  all 
doubt,  after  a  sparrow  flying  by. 


SIGHT.  49 

But  a  much  longer  time  passed  before  objects  thrown 
on  the  floor,  playthings  which  had  served  to  amuse  for 
a  time,  were  followed  with  the  eyes.  Inasmuch  as  the 
point  concerned  here  is  of  a  discovery  made  afresh  by 
every  individual  human  being,  viz.,  that  bodies  are 
heavy,  and  fall  if  they  are  not  supported,  I  directed 
my  attention  particularly  to  this,  and  I  give  here 
some  observations  concerning  it  in  the  case  of  my 
child  : 

30th  week. — The  child  very  often  lets  fall  to  the 
floor  objects  held  a  short  time  in  the  hand,  but  up  to 
this  time  he  has  not  once  looked  after  them. 

31st  week. — If  the  child  sees  or  hears  anything  fall, 
he  sometimes  turns  his  gaze  in  the  direction  where  the 
fall  took  place. 

33d  week. — The  falling  and  letting  fall  of  an  object 
make  no  impression,  although  objects  moved  slowly 
downward  are  followed  with  especially  close  gaze  of 
both  eyes. 

SJfth  week. — The  child  but  rarely  looks  after  an  ob- 
ject that  falls  out  of  his  hand. 

36th  week. — Objects  thrown  to  the  ground  are  not 
yet  followed  by  the  child  regularly,  or  with  any  expres- 
sion of  attention,  whereas  he  fixes  his  gaze  with  the 
greatest  interest  on  any  slowly-moving  objects  that  he 
can  hold  in  view,  e.  g.,  tobacco-smoke. 

^3d  week. — The  child  looks  after  objects  thrown  on 
the  floor,  oftentimes  as  if  in  wonder. 

4,7th  week. — The  child  throws  down  objects  of  all 
sorts  that  are  put  into  his  hands,  after  busying  himself 
with  them  some  moments,  and  frequently  looks  after 
them.     Once  he  threw  a  book  on  the  floor  eight  times 


50  THE   MIND   OF   THE   CHILD. 

in  succession,  with,  eager  attention,  which  was  manifest- 
ed by  the  protruding  of  the  lips. 

63d-65th  weeks. — Very  often  the  child  throws  down 
objects  that  displease  him,  or  with  which  he  has  played 
awhile,  and  generally  looks  after  them. 

78th  week. — The  throwing  away  of  playthings  is 
rare  (giving  up  of  the  habit). 

lc2J/.th  week. — Throwing  the  ball,  of  all  plays,  yields 
by  far  the  greatest  pleasure,  and  the  gaze  follows  the 
ball  with  special  precision. 

The  knowledge  that  bodies  are  heavy  would  begin, 
according  to  this,  in  my  child,  with  the  forty-third  week, 
when  for  the  first  time  the  fall  of  an  object  previously 
held  in  his  own  hand  causes  astonishment.  It  would 
be  interesting  to  know  how  it  is  with  other  children  in 
this  respect.  Darwin  observed  that  a  child,  even  in  the 
eighth  month,  could  not  properly  follow  with  his  gaze 
an  object  swinging  only  moderately  fast ;  on  the  other 
hand,  at  the  age  of  thirty-two  days,  this  child  perceived 
his  mother's  breast  three  or  four  inches  away  ;  for  with- 
out touching  it  he  protruded  his  lips,  and  his  eyes  were 
"fixed"  (cf.  p.  32),  just  as  happened  on  the  forty-ninth 
day  at  sight  of  a  brightly-colored  tassel,  which  made  him 
stop  moving  his  arms  when  it  appeared  in  the  held  of 
vision. 

G.   Seeing  Near  and  Distant  Objects. 

The  approach  of  the  name  of  a  candle  or  of  a  shining 
metallic  surface  to  the  face  of  an  infant  that  has  not  yet 
moved  its  eyes,  produces,  in  the  first  two  to  six  weeks, 
convergence  of  the  lines  of  vision  and  strabismus. 
This  convergence  seems  to  be  associated  with  a  strain  of 
the  muscle  of  accommodation,  as  Genzmer  ascertained 


SIGHT.  51 

by  observation  of  the  lens-images.  He  examined  one 
eye  while  the  other  was  alternately  brightly  lighted  and 
shaded,  and  he  concludes  that  a  previously-formed  con- 
nection exists  between  the  position  of  convergence  and 
the  strain  of  accommodation.  This  conjecture  is,  in 
fact,  very  probable.  For  the  ante-natal  existence  of  the 
reliex  arc  from  the  optic  nerve  to  the  motor  oculi  is 
proved  by  the  contraction  of  the  pupil  exposed  to  light 
immediately  after  birth.  Now,  the  motor  oculi, 
through  the  excitement  of  which  the  pupil  is  contracted, 
is  also  the  nerve  of  accommodation,  which  strains  the 
ciliary  muscle  when  near  objects  are  seen,  and  is  at  the 
same  time  the  nerve  which  supplies  the  internal  rectus 
muscle  of  the  eye  and  so  the  muscle  of  convergence. 

When  a  bright  object  approaches  the  eye,  accord- 
ingly, through  the  mere  excitement  of  the  motor  oculi 
from  the  retina  outward,  the  whole  machinery  of  adap- 
tation, accommodation,  and  convergence  is  at  once  set 
in  action.  Contraction  of  the  pupil,  thickening  of  the 
lens,  and  looking  inward,  occur  together  when  a  light  is 
brought  near  the  child,  without  justifying  the  suppo- 
sition of  the  least  choice  or  intention  in  the  case,  solely 
through  the  reflex  excitement  of  the  motor  oculi  from 
the  optic  nerve  outward.  At  any  rate,  vision  is  intro- 
duced through  the  concurrence  of  these  three  processes 
with  the  sensation  of  brightness.  Indistinct  as  the  mus- 
cular sensation  of  the  ciliary  and  convergence  muscle 
may  be,  it  will  associate  itself  with  the  sensation  of 
light  the  more  perceptibly  the  oftener  a  bright  object 
approaches  the  eye.  The  contraction  of  the  pupil,  more- 
over, does  not  invariably  take  place  along  with  conver- 
gence in  the  newly-born  (p.38). 


52  THE   MIND    OF   THE   CHILD. 

But  thus  far  the  conditions  are  not  fulfilled  for 
securing  a  sharply-defined  image  on  the  retina,  nor  if 
such  an  image  were  to  arise  could  the  object  be  distinctly 
seen  as  a  bounded  surface. 

For,  as  to  the  first  point,  it  is  evident  that  only 
seldom  does  the  flame  of  the  candle  (or  any  bright  ob- 
ject whatever)  come  directly  within  the  distance  at 
which  the  child's  eye  sees  plainly.  The  infant  seems 
to  recognize  distinctly,  earliest  of  all,  the  face  of  his 
mother  or  nurse,  since  this  is  light,  pictures  itself  often- 
est  on  his  retina,  and  is  at  the  same  time  so  near  that  it 
comes  most  frequently  within  the  range  of  distinct  vis- 
ion. In  this  way  the  difference  between  a  faint  retinal 
image  (of  objects  distant  or  too  near)  and  sharply-defined 
images  is  impressed  upon  the  child.  The  diffusion 
circles  must  assert  themselves  less  when  the  moder- 
ately bright  object  is  at  a  certain  small  remove  from 
the  eye  ;  at  all  other  distances  they  make  their  ap- 
pearance. 

As  to  the  second  point,  it  is  certain  that  in  the  first 
days  or  weeks,  even  if  the  diffusion  images  should  be 
utterly  wanting,  still  the  form  of  the  object  can  not  be 
plainly  seen  ;  the  only  distinct  sensation  is  that  of  bright- 
ness. All  experiences  with  people  born  blind,  but  after 
some  years  operated  on  successfully,  point  in  this  direc- 
tion. And  although  learning  to  see  is  with  such  persons 
a  different  thing  from  what  it  is  with  normal  infants, 
because  the  long  repose  of  the  central  organs  of  the 
sense  of  sight  causes  a  partly  quicker,  partly  slower, 
functional  development  of  these,  yet  no  radical  essen- 
tial difference  between  the  two  developments  of  the 
process  of  sight  can  be  established  if  the  operation  is 


SIGHT.  53 

performed  during  childhood.  Even  the  experiences  of 
space  gained  through  seizing  and  touching  can  not  be 
directlv  made  available  at  the  first  attempt  at  accommo- 
dation by  one  born  blind  and  gaining  sight  late  in  life. 
By  him,  as  by  the  infant,  among  the  countless  retinal  im- 
ages must  be  preferred  above  all  others,  those  which  are 
of  moderate  brightness  and  those  in  which  the  diffusion 
circles  amount  to  a  minimum.  For  very  great  bright- 
ness is  disagreeable,  like  every  over-strong  nerve  excite- 
ment, and  the  dark  involves  a  weaker  nerve  excitement 
than  the  moderately  bright,  and  thus  seems  less  adapted 
to  arouse  the  attentiou  of  the  eye.  Of  the  images  of 
medium  intensity  of  light,  that  which  is  sharply  defined 
is  observed  before  all  others,  for  the  reason  that  this  one, 
apart  from  the  pleasurable  feeling  it  causes,  is  distin- 
guished from  all  others — precisely  through  its  sharp 
outlines — the  relative  position  is  better  ascertained,  and 
the  object  is  more  easily  recognized  when  seen  again. 
Thus  when  the  retinal  images  all  appear  together  the 
brighter  and  sharper  ones  are  preferred ;  these  impress 
themselves  first  and  most  enduringly  upon  children,  the 
others  being  consequently  neglected.  In  this  way  the 
function  of  accommodation  is  set  in  operation.  Then  the 
eye  can  fixate,  one  after  another,  objects  that  are  at  un- 
equal distances  from  it. 

Still  the  step,  from  the  reflex  accommodation  at  the 
approach  of  an  object  to  the  eye  in  repose  to  the  volun- 
tary accommodation  at  the  sight  of  two  unequally  dis- 
tant objects,  remains  obscure.  Probably  it  is  first  taken 
upon  the  ground  of  a  logical  process,  after  the  child  has 
moved  himself,  or  at  least  his  head  and  his  arms,  toward 
the  object.     Then  first  will  the  knowledge  dawn  upon 


54  THE   MIND   OF   THE   CHILD. 

him,  "  I  do  not  need  to  be  nearer  the  object  in  order  to 
see  it  plainly.'" 

This  experience  can  not,  however,  be  turned  to  ac- 
count before  the  development  of  the  power  of  choice. 
For  "  fixation  "  is  the  voluntary  bringing  of  an  illumi- 
nated point  on  the  place  of  clearest  vision,  the  yellow 
spot,  to  a  distinct  image.  The  child  that  for  the  first 
time  gazes  at  the  flame  of  the  candle  has  no  power  of 
choice  ;  for  him,  therefore,  fixation  is  not  possible.  He 
simply  stares  spell-bound  by  the  new  sensation. 

Binocular  fixation  must,  however,  be  inexact  long 
after  the  first  voluntary  act  of  accommodation,  because 
irregular  movements  of  the  eyes  are  still  frequent.  Fix- 
ation, properly  speaking,  does  not  in  any  case  take  place 
before  the  day  on  which  for  the  first  time  a  moving  ob- 
ject is  voluntarily  followed  with  the  gaze — not  before 
the  close  of  the  third  month  (according  to  my  observa- 
tions and  those  of  Cuignet). 

But  for  a  long  time  after  this  critical  point,  the  per- 
ception of  objects  unecmally  distant  from  the  eye,  as  also 
the  estimate  of  distances,  remains  imperfect.  How 
slowly  the  third  dimension  of  space  gets  established  in 
perception,  in  spite  of  daily  practice,  appears  from  the 
following  observations,  separated  by  great  intervals  of 
time,  made  in  regard  to  my  boy,  whose  sight  was  after- 
ward very  keen. 

In  the  ninth  week  the  apparatus  of  accommodation 
was  already  in  action.  At  least  I  inferred  so,  from  the 
fact  that,  while  head  and  eyes  were  motionless  and  the 
amount  of  light  remained  unvarying  in  good  daylight, 
the  pupils  expanded  and  contracted  alternately  several 
times,  although  this  was  done  also  even  when  my  face 


SIGHT.  55 

remained  at  the  same  distance  from  that  of  the  child. 
He  was  evidently  experimenting  here,  letting  his  eyes 
converge  more  and  less  strongly,  allowing  my  face  to 
become  distinct  and  less  distinct  before  them. 

17th  week. — Objects  accidentally  seized  are  moved 
toward  the  eyes.  The  child  often  grasps  at  objects 
which  are  twice  the  length  of  his  arm  away  from  him  ; 
indeed,  at  the  same  object  several  times  in  succession. 

18th  loeek. — Reaching  too  short  for  the  distance  is 
very  frequent. 

IfJfth  week. — New  objects  are  no  longer,  as  was  the 
case  earlier,  carried  to  the  eyes  (and  to  the  month),  or, 
at  any  rate,  only  rarely ;  on  the  other  hand,  they  are  at- 
tentively regarded  and  felt  with  the  hands,  the  month 
being  pursed.  When  the  child  regards  a  stranger  near 
him  (in  the  seventh  month)  his  countenance  takes  on 
an  expression  of  the  greatest  astonishment,  mouth  and 
eyes  being  wide  open,  all  the  muscles  becoming  sud- 
denly rigid  in  the  exact  position  they  were  last  in.  The 
new  retinal  image  must  therefore  be  quite  clear,  to  be 
so  easily  distinguished  from  other  retinal  images  of  hu- 
man faces — i.  e.,  the  accommodation  is  perfect. 

47th  week. — Playing  with  a  single  hair  (a  woman's), 
on  which  the  eyes  were  long  fixed,  proves  the  same 
thing. 

51st  week. — Some  men  sawing  wood,  at  a  distance  of 
more  than  one  hundred  feet,  attract  the  attention  of  the 
child  and  give  him  pleasure.  His  sight,  therefore,  is 
keen  at  a  distance,  as  it  is  for  near  objects.  But  that 
things  plainly  seen  are  at  unequal  distances  he  has  not 
yet  comprehended  ;  for,  in  the — 

58th  week. — The  child  grasped  again  and  again,  with 


56  THE   MIND   OF   THE   CHILD. 

great  perseverance,  at  a  lamp  in  the  ceiling  of  a  railway- 
carriage  in  which  he  was  passing  some  hours,  and  was 
unusually  merry  over  it. 

68th  week. — He  continues  to  come  short,  very  often, 
in  his  attempts  to  seize  objects ;  he  also  reaches  too  far 
to  the  left  or  to  the  right,  and  too  high  and  too  low. 

96th  week. — I  stood  at  the  window  in  the  second 
story  and  threw  a  piece  of  paper  to  the  child,  who  was 
in  the  garden  below.  He  picked  it  up,  looked  at  it,  and 
held  it  toward  me  a  long  time,  with  uplifted  arm,  ex- 
pressing his  desire  that  I  should  take  it — a  convincing 
proof  how  little  he  appreciates  distance. 

108th  week. — Looking  at  small  photographic  like- 
nesses of  persons  known  to  him,  the  child  at  once  knows 
whom  they  represent;  he  must,  therefore,  have  good 
power  of  accommodation,  since  only  in  well-deiined 
retinal  images  can  be  perceived  the  differences,  often 
slight,  by  which  human  faces  are  recognized. 

113th  week. — Articles  of  household  furniture  known 
to  the  child  are  also  recognized  at  once  when  represented 
in  the  picture-book,  and  at  a  distance  of  three  inches, 
and  of  three  feet. 

It  follows  from  these  observations  that  the  accom- 
modation is  perfect  long  before  the  perception  of  dis- 
tance begins — i.  e.,  the  child  is  able  to  see  plainly  ob- 
jects at  very  unequal  distances  from  the  eye  without 
knowing  how  unlike  their  distance  is,  nay,  even  without 
any  knowledge  of  their  being  at  unequal  distances.  He 
becomes  acquainted  with  distance  only  at  a  later  period, 
probably  through  the  movement  of  his  body  toward  the 
object  seen,  and  through  the  failure  of  his  attempts  to 
seize  what  lies  at  a  distance. 


SIGHT.  57 

Yet,  for  all  children,  probably  the  correct  estimate 
of  distance  is  first  established  by  this  very  act  of  seizing, 
because  in  this  there  is  abundant  experience,  the  num- 
ber of  the  attempts  being  great.  On  the  contrary,  by 
the  act  of  offering  things  to  others  a  correct  estimate  of 
distance  is  not  formed  till  much  later,  because  there  is 
a  lack  of  experience  at  the  beginning.  Giving  makes 
its  appearance  much  later  than  taking. 

In  any  case  the  child  is  much  longer  in  getting  his 
bearings  in  space,  even  after  he  has  the  power  of  visual 
accommodation,  than  are  many  animals,  e.  g.,  the  chicken, 
which,  after  a  few  hours,  correctly  perceives  the  dis- 
tance of  a  grain  of  corn  at  which  it  pecks  (p.  67).  The 
human  being  must  infer,  by  a  roundabout  way,  from 
many  individual  experiences,  the  third  dimension  of 
space,  whereas  those  animals  inherit  a  nervous  mechan- 
ism which  makes  this  appear  by  no  means  a  thing  to  be 
learned.  In  man,  right  and  left,  over  and  under,  are 
given  by  means  of  the  arms  and  legs,  as  these  are  sepa- 
rated from  one  another  ;  but  extent  from  before  to  be- 
hind is  not  thus  given,  because  the  child  does  not  see  or 
feel  itself  behind.  For  the  knowledge  of  extent  from 
front  to  rear,  i.  e.,  of  the  dimension  of  depth,  there  is 
need  of  movements,  especially  of  seizing ;  hence,  this  is 
not  acquired  until  later. 

The  old,  much-mooted  question,  whether  the  child 
supposes  the  objects  it  first  sees  distinctly  (but  not  yet 
as  at  unequal  distances  from  the  eye)  to  be  in  the  eye 
or  outside  of  it,  is  answered  by  John  Stuart  Mill  (1859), 
according  to  the  Berkeley  an  theory  of  space-perception, 
for  he  says  that  a  person  born  blind  and  suddenly  en- 
abled to  see  would  at  first  have  no  conception  of  in  or 


58  THE   MIND   OF   THE   CHILD. 

out,  and  would  l)e  conscious  of  colors  only,  not  of  ob- 
jects. When,  by  bis  sense  of  touch,  he  became  ac- 
quainted with  objects,  and  had  time  to  associate  men- 
tally the  objects  he  touched  with  the  colors  he  saw,  then, 
and  not  till  then,  wTould  he  begin  to  see  objects. 

The  correctness  of  this  view  is  shown  by  all  the 
earlier  and  later  reports  of  oculists  in  regard  to  blind 
children  who  learn  to  see  after  being  operated  upon. 
The  same  thing  is  true  of  newly-born  children  that  have 
their  sight ;  for,  whenever  two  impressions  belonging  to 
different  departments  of  the  senses  occur  together  in 
our  experience,  then  from  the  presence  of  the  one  we 
infer  the  other.  The  knowledge  of  outness  is  hence 
much  earlier  awakened  and  established  than  that  of  the 
unequal  distances  of  objects  from  the  eye.  "  At  the 
age  at  which  a  child  first  learns  that  a  diminution  in 
brightness  and  in  apparent  magnitude  implies  increase 
of  distance,  the  child's  ideas  of  tangible  extension  and 
magnitude  are  not  faint  and  faded,  but  fresh  and  vigor- 
ous." In  the  beginning,  however,  the  perception  of 
distance,  as  well  as  perception  by  touch,  does  not  exist 
at  all,  and  the  former  is  still  utterly  lacking  when  the 
latter  has  reached  a  comparatively  advanced  stage.  For 
the  experiences  with  persons  born  blind  that  have  after- 
ward learned  to  see,  show  that  some  of  these  patients 
supposed  the  objects  seen  to  be  touching  their  eyes,  as 
objects  felt  touch  the  skin.  Here  Stuart  Mill  is  quite 
correct  in  saying,  "  That  the  objects  touched  their  eyes 
was  a  mere  supposition  which  the  patients  made,  be- 
cause it  was  with  their  eyes  that  they  perceived  them." 
From  their  experiences  of  touch,  perception  of  an  object 
and  contact  with  it  were  indissolubly  associated  in  their 


SIGHT.  59 

minds.  The  patient  would  certainly  not  say,  however, 
that  all  objects  seemed  to  touch  his  eyes,  if  some  of  them 
appeared  farther  off  than  others.  Cases  of  this  sort, 
therefore,  fully  prove  that  children  are  at  first  incapable 
of  seeing  things  at  unequal  distances.  But  because  the 
patients  show  great  zeal  in  learning  to  judge  of  impres- 
sions of  sight  by  means  of  the  sense  of  touch,  they  must 
also  learn  to  judge  of  distances. 

One  question  more  belongs  here :  Are  newly-born 
children  oftener  myopic  (near-sighted)  or  hypermetropic 
(far-sighted)  ? 

We  have  the  observations  of  Von  Jager  (1861)  and 
of  Ely  concerning  the  eyes  of  the  newly-born  and  of 
infants,  but  these  observations  are  in  part  contradictory. 
The  first  observer  is  of  opinion  that  the  configuration 
of  the  eye  in  the  earliest  days  is  myopic,  there  being  an 
inborn  prolongation  of  the  axis  of  the  eye,  which  lasts, 
however,  but  a  few  weeks.  Evidence  of  this  he  found 
also  in  measurements  made  in  post-mortem  examinations. 
He  maintains,  on  the  evidence  of  his  ophthalmoscopic 
and  anatomical  investigations,  that  at  the  beginning  the 
adjustment  for  shorter  distances  prevails,  but  in  the  more 
matured  child  the  adjustment  for  greater  distances  (in 
the  early  years).  Ely,  on  the  contrary,  who  (1880)  tested 
newly-bom  children  and  infants  of  a  few  weeks  (living 
children  only)  with  the  ophthalmoscope,  making  use  of 
belladonna  (whereby  a  higher  per  cent  can  be  obtained 
for  inborn  hypermetropia,  as  he  himself  remarks),  found 
that  emmetropia,  myopia,  and  hypermetropia  are  all  in- 
nate, with  a  preponderance  of  the  last  condition.  Konig- 
stein,  who  examined  nearly  three  hundred  children,  states 
that  the  eye  of  the  child  is  probably  hypermetropic  ex- 


60  THE   MIND   OF  THE   CHILD. 

clusively  (1881).  Renewed  observations,  without  the 
use  of  belladonna,  are  desirable,  though  they  are,  of 
course,  attended  with  great  difficulties. 

I  saw  the  eyes  of  my  child,  on  the  twelfth  day  of 
his  life,  shine  very  brightly  (both  pupils  dark-red)  when 
the  flame  of  a  candle  was  behind  my  head  at  one  side. 
This  glow  of  the  eye  indicates  hypermetropia  at  that 
time.     Later,  this  child's  eyes  became  emmetropic. 

It  can  not  be  without  influence  on  the  whole  mental 
development  of  the  child  whether  he  distinctly  sees  near 
objects  only,  or  distant  ones  also,  in  the  first  years  of  his 
life,  but  there  is  as  yet  a  lack  of  data  for  estimating  this 
influence. 

One  thing  only  I  would  lay  down  as  settled,  viz., 
that  the  protracted  occupation  of  little  children  with 
fine  work,  such  as  the  pricking  of  paper,  the  placing  and 
drawing  through  of  threads,  etc. — notwithstanding  the 
fact  that  these  exercises  are  warmly  recommended  in 
the  so-called  Kindergartens  of  German}",  and  are  prac- 
ticed daily  for  a  long  time — must  be  injurious  to  the 
eyes.  The  prolonged  strain  of  looking  at  near  objects 
is  for  children  from  three  to  six  years  old,  even  in  the 
best  light,  unqualifiedly  harmful.  All  strain  of  atten- 
tion to  near  objects  in  the  evening,  when  lamp-light  must 
be  used,  should  especially  be  forbidden,  otherwise  the 
apparatus  of  accommodation  will  get  a  one-sided  use  too 
early,  and  near-sightedness  will  be  invited. 

7.  The  Interpretation  of  what  is  Seen. 

Many  suppose  that  the  infant,  if  he  distinguishes 
at  all  any  individual  visible  thing,  sees  "  all  objects  as 
if  painted  upon  a  flat  surface  " — that  he  has  as  yet  no 


SIGHT.  61 

conception  of  anything  external,  existing  outside  of  his 
eye ;  at  any  rate,  no  suspicion  that  anything  moves  to- 
ward him ;  that  his  seeing  seems  to  be  at  this  time 
merely  a  dim  sense  of  light  and  of  darkness ;  the  finger 
appears  to  him  only  as  a  dark  patch  in  a  bright  field  of 
vision,  and  does  not  project  in  relief  from  the  surface 
of  the  picture.* 

In  opposition  to  this  I  must  contend — while  I  agree 
with  the  view  in  relation  to  the  newly-born  and  the  first 
days  of  life — that  in  the  second  quarter  of  the  first  year, 
when  this  is  also  said  to  bold  good,  there  must  be  al- 
ready something  more  than  a  mere  "dim  i«ense  of  light 
and  dark."  For,  in  the  first  place,  the  convergence  of 
the  lines  of  vision  exists  much  earlier ;  so  that  the  at- 
tention is  directed  to  individual  points  in  the  field  of 
vision.  Secondly,  the  glance  of  both  eyes  follows  mov- 
ing objects  much  earlier,  though  not  voluntarily.  Third- 
ly, it  is  early  announced,  by  exclamations  of  pleasure 
and  displeasure  over  single  objects  held  before  the  face, 
that  the  discovery  has  been  made  of  the  demarcation  in 
space  of  the  changing  fields,  colored,  or  dark  and  light, 
in  the  visual  plane. 

"Withal  a  considerable  time  elapses  before  the  child 
is  capable  of  interpreting  the  colored,  light  and  dark, 
large  and  small,  disappearing  and  reappearing  mosaics 
— before  he  can  understand  and  appreciate,  before  he 
ceases  to  wonder  at  transparency  and  luster,  reflection 
and  shadow.  In  this  the  normal  babe  is  inferior,  in 
learning  to  see,  to  the  person  born  blind  but  gaining 


*  Sigismund's  work  on  "  The  Child   and   the  World "  ("  Kind  und 
Welt"),  1856. 


62  THE   MIXD   OF  THE  CHILD. 

sight  through  a  surgical  operation ;  the  latter  learns 
much  more  rapidly  to  interpret  the  field  of  vision,  by 
reason  of  his  more  abundant  experiences  of  touch. 

Some  of  my  observations  concerning  the  interpreta- 
tion of  the  more  common  retinal  impressions  of  the 
child,  made  at  various  times,  may  be  brought  together 
here  for  illustration. 

6th  month. — When  I  nod  with  a  pleasant  look  to 
my  child,  he  laughs  with  unmistakable  signs  of  pleasure, 
moving  his  arms  up  and  down.  (When  strangers  accost 
him,  however,  he  does  not  do  this.)  Once  he  observed 
my  image  in  the  mirror,  became  very  attentive,  and 
suddenly  turned  around  toward  me  as  if  he  were  about 
to  compare  the  image  in  the  glass  with  the  original, 
or  wished  to  convince  himself  of  the  doubling  of  the 
face. 

7th  month. — The  infant  stares  at  a  strange  face  near 
him  fully  a  minute,  and  longer,  with  eyes  fixed  and 
with  an  expression  of  the  greatest  astonishment :  he 
therefore  interprets  it  at  once  as  something  strange. 

8th  month. — The  greatest  interest  is  aroused  by  bot- 
tles— nursing-bottles,  wine-bottles,  and  bottles  for  water. 
They  are  "  fixated  "  with  a  protracted  gaze ;  the  child 
wants  them,  and  they  are  recognized  even  at  a  distance 
of  two  or  three  metres.  The  interest  is  to  be  explained 
by  the  circumstance  that  the  child  now  gets  his  nourish- 
ment from  the  bottle,  which  he  takes  hold  of  several 
times  a  day  and  sees  near  by.  For  this  reason  he  recog- 
nizes objects  like  it  in  the  field  of  vision  more  easily 
than  other  objects  (except  human  faces). 

9th  month. — Just  as  it  is  with  bottles  that  resemble 
nursing-bottles,  so  it  is  now  with  boxes  that  resemble  an 


SIGHT.  63 

infant's  powder-box ;  these  are  gazed  at  fixedly,  and  are 
desired,  with  outstretched  arms  and  wide-open  eyes. 
More  and  more,  however,  the  child  shows  his  interest  in 
other  things  and  occurrences  in  his  neighborhood ;  in 
particular,  he  turns  his  head  quickly  toward  the  door 
when  it  is  opened  or  shut,  and  observes  attentively  new 
objects  that  he  holds,  or  that  are  moving,  for  a  longer 
time  than  formerly. 

10th  month. —  Visual  impressions  that  are  connected 
with  food  are,  however,  most  quickly  and  surely  inter- 
preted correctly.  The  child  follows  the  preparation  of 
his  food  with  lips  protruded  and  with  wide-open,  glis- 
tening, eager  eyes. 

11th  month. — When  the  child  is  awake  he  hardly 
remains  quiet  a  moment ;  is  always  moving  the  eyes 
hither  and  thither,  and  in  like  manner  the  head,  while 
he  tries  to  fixate  with  his  gaze  every  one  who  comes  in 
or  goes  by. 

If  these  facts  in  regard  to  isolated  sight-impressions 
show  an  early  faculty  of  perception  by  the  eye,  since 
faces,  bright  and  large  moving  objects,  are  soon  distin- 
guished from  other  parts  of  the  field  of  vision  and  are 
easily  recognized  again,  yet  the  following  facts,  although 
they  come  from  a  still  later  period,  prove  how  far  from 
correctly  new  impressions  are  interpreted. 

loth  month. — The  child  grasped  repeatedly  at  the 
lighted  candle,  but  not  far  enough  to  reach  it,  and  when 
he  was  near  enough  put  his  hand  into  the  flame ;  but 
never  again  afterward. 

16th  month. — In  the  bath  the  child  grasps  at  the 
jets  of  water  that  flow  from  his  head  when  the  sponge 
is  squeezed  upon  it,  as  if  these  were  strings.     He  tries 


64  THE   MIND   OF   THE   CHILD. 

to  catch  them  in  his  fingers  in  a  pretty  way,  and  seems 
surprised  at  his  failure. 

17th  month. — The  child  grasped,  at  various  times, 
generally  with  a  laugh,  at  some  tobacco-smoke  a  few 
feet  away  from  him,  bent  his  fingers  and  exerted  him- 
self to  seize  the  smoke,  which  floated  between  him  and 
a  lamp.  Only  imperfect  conceptions  are  formed,  then, 
even  yet,  of  the  distance  and  the  substantiality  of  ob- 
jects. 

18th  month. — At  the  unexpected  sight  of  a  tall  man 
dressed  in  black,  the  child  becomes  suddenly  still,  stares 
at  the  man  about  a  minute,  flees  to  his  father  and  gazes, 
motionless,  at  the  tall  figure.  Immediately  after  the 
man  had  withdrawn,  the  child  said  atta,  and  was  unre- 
strainedly merry  and  loud  as  before. 

Here  an  unexpected  visual  impression  had  evidently 
caused  anxiety,  without  any  assignable  reason,  for  the 
man  whose  appearance  the  child  did  not  know  how  to 
interpret  was  friendly  toward  him.  It  was  not  till  the 
end  of  his  second  year  that  the  child  ceased  to  be  so 
easily  embarrassed  by  strangers  in  black  dress. 

22d  month. — New  impressions  seem  to  enchain  his 
attention  in  increased  degree;  the  mysterious  grows 
more  and  more  attractive. 

%lith  month. — The  child  observes  very  attentively 
animals  that  are  moving,  even  the  slowly  -  creeping 
snail  and  the  beetle.  These  objects,  easily  followed 
with  the  eye,  appear  not  to  be  at  all  understood,  to 
judge  from  the  inquiring  expression  of  countenance. 
The  child  is  surprisingly  tender  with  them,  almost 
timid. 

At  this  period  the  understanding  of  actions,  and  of 


SIGHT.  65 

the  use  of  all  sorts  of  utensils,  is  further  developed  than 
the  ability  to  interpret  representations  of  them,  al- 
though an  inexhaustible  fancy  in  play  has  been  mani- 
fested a  long  time  already  in  various  ways.  Sigismund's 
child,  at  the  end  of  the  second  year,  understood  a  circle 
as  representing  a  plate,  a  square  as  a  bonbon,  and  had  in 
his  twenty-first  month  recognized  the  shadow  of  his 
father,  of  which  he  was  at  first  afraid,  as  a  picture,  for 
he  pointed  at  it  joyously,  crying  "  Papa ! "  Much  later 
than  this  my  boy  called  a  square,  window  /  a  triangle, 
roof ;  a  circle,  ring  ;  four  points,  little  birds. 

Not  till  after  the  third  year  is  the  ability  to  repre- 
sent known  objects,  even  by  lines  on  paper  or  by  cut- 
ting out,  manifested.  Before  this  the  child  wants  to 
','  write,"  raiwe  (schreiben),  i.  e.,  to  draw ;  and  thinks 
that  by  all  sorts  of  marks  he  is  representing  a  locomo- 
tive, a  horse,  a  spoon,  a  plate,  a  bottle ;  but  does  not 
succeed  without  help.  I  have  had  information  of  one 
child  only  that,  in  its  fourth  year,  without  instruction, 
could  cut  animals  out  of  paper  with  the  scissors  (giraffes, 
greyhounds,  horses,  lions,  camels,  fishes)  in  such  a  fash- 
ion, and  draw  them  so  on  the  slate  with  a  pencil,  that 
everybody  knew  at  once  what  the  lines  inclosed  (even  in 
the  case  where  he  had  sketched  a  man  sitting).  Such  a 
talent  is  very  rare,  and  indicates  an  inherited  sense  of 
form.  An  average  child  can  not,  before  the  end  of  the 
third  year,  draw  an  approximately  circular  line  return- 
ing upon  itself.  This  boy  of  three  and  a  half  years, 
however,  bites  animals  out  of  bread,  draws  them  with  a 
stick  in  the  sand,  models  them  in  clay,  sees  animal 
forms  in  the  clouds,  and  devotes  himself  to  his  art  with 
the  greatest  perseverance  for  months,  without  direction, 


QQ  THE   MIND   OF   THE   CHILD. 

without  the  least  stimulus  from  parents  or  brothers  and 
sisters.* 

The  surprisingly  persistent  desire  of  my  boy  (in  his 
thirtieth  month),  repeated  daily  (often  several  times  in 
the  day),  to  "  write  "  locomotives,  Loeopotiwe  iwiben  (lie 
meant  "  draw  "),  sprang  from  his  seeing  locomotives  fre- 
quently. These  objects  interested  him  in  a  remarkable 
degree  in  his  third  and  fourth  years,  evidently  because 
greater  changes  in  the  field  of  vision  excite  the  special 
attention  of  the  infant  very  early,  on  account  of  the 
great  number  of  optical  nerve-tibers  excited  by  the 
change  of  light  and  dark.  In  the  country  the  locomo- 
tive is  one  of  the  largest  moving  objects.  It  also  moves 
swifter  than  horses.  That  this,  the  largest  moving  mass 
perceived,  became  the  most  interesting  of  all,  as  was  the 
case  with  the  steamer  on  the  sea,  seems  therefore  nat- 
ural. 

As  to  the  rest  I  have  not  been  able  to  determine  in 
what  way  little  children  represent  to  themselves  such 
movements.  Many  regarded  the  locomotive  as  tired 
when  it  stood  still,  as  thirsty  when  its  tank  was  filling 
wTith  water,  as  a  stove  when  it  was  heated ;  or  they  were 
afraid  of  every  steam-engine  near  them,  so  long  as  it 
was  in  operation. 

8.  Sight  in  Newly-born  Animals. 

The  perfection  of  sight  in  quite  young  fowls,  with- 
out experience,  is  astonishing  as  compared  with  the  in- 
complete development  of  this  sense  in  new-born  human 
beings.     Let  their  eyes  be  kept  shut,  without  injuring 

*  Frau  Dr.  Friedemann. 


SIGHT.  67 

tliem,  from  one  to  three  days,  and,  in  many  cases,  within 
two  minutes  after  the  removal  of  the  bandage,  they  will 
follow  the  movements  of  creeping  insects  with  all  the 
accuracy  of  old  fowls.  Within  from  two  to  fifteen  min- 
utes they  peck  at  any  object,  estimating  the  distance  with 
almost  infallible  accuracy.  If  the  object  is  out  of  reach, 
they  will  run  to  it  and  hit  it  every  time,  so  to  speak,  for 
they  never  miss  by  more  than  a  hair's  breadth,  even 
when  the  kernel  of  grain  at  which  they  pecked  is  no 
larger  than  the  smallest  dot  of  the  letter  i  •  seizing  at 
the  moment  of  pecking  is  a  more  difficult  operation. 
Although  an  insect  is  sometimes  caught  with  the  bill 
and  swallowed  at  the  first  attempt,  they  generally  peck 
five  or  six  times,  and  pick  up  crumbs  once  or  twice, 
before  they  succeed  in  swallowing  food  for  the  first 
time.     So  Spalding  reports. 

His  statements  hold  good,  also,  according  to  my  ob- 
servations, for  fowls  one  day  old,  not  bandaged  but  kept 
in  the  dark  one  day  ;  these,  without  mother  or  compan- 
ions, at  once  find  their  way  of  themselves  wTherever 
they  are,  in  the  incubator  or  on  the  table  in  the  labora- 
tory. But  I  can  not  admit  the  supposed  infallibility  to 
within  a  hair's  breadth.  They  miss  in  pecking  by  as 
much  as  two  millimetres,  though  seldom.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  attempts  at  swallowing  frequently  fail.  Here 
it  should  be  considered  that  even  grown  fowls  are  not 
sure  in  their  pecking,  seizing,  or  swallowing,  as  any  one 
that  observes  closely  may  easily  perceive.  The  accuracy 
is,  however,  marvelous  at  the  very  beginning.  A  duck- 
ling of  a  day  old  snapjDed  at  a  fly  that  was  just  flying  by, 
and  caught  it ;  a  turkey  of  only  a  day  and  a  half  directed 
its  bill,  after  the  manner  of  the  elders  of  its  race,  atten- 


68  THE   MIND   OF   THE   CHILD. 

tively  and  deliberately,  at  flies  and  other  small  insects. 
(Spalding.) 

Many  new-born  mammals  Lave  likewise  in  the  very 
first  hours  of  life  the  ability  to  move  not  only  the  head 
but  the  whole  body  toward  a  visual  impression — e.  g., 
young  pigs.  Spalding  bandaged  the  eyes  of  two  pigs 
just  born.  One  of  these  was  brought  immediately  to 
the  mother ;  it  soon  found  the  teats  and  began  to  suck. 
Six  hours  afterward  the  other  was  placed  at  a  short  dis- 
tance from  the  mother.  It  found  her  in  half  a  minute, 
after  going  about  in  a  rather  unsteady  manner.  After  a 
half-minute  more  it  found  the  teats.  In  both  cases  smell 
and  taste  must,  therefore,  have  determined  the  direc- 
tion of  the  movement ;  in  the  last  case  probably  hearing 
also.  But  it  is  not  expressly  stated  wmether  the  mother 
made  her  voice  heard.  On  the  following  day  it  ap- 
peared that  the  one  of  the  young  ones  that  had  been 
left  with  the  mother  no  longer  had  on  the  bandage. 
The  other  was  wholly  unable  to  see,  but  walked  about, 
bumping  against  things.  In  the  afternoon  the  bandage 
was  taken  off.  Then  the  creature  ran  about  as  if  it  had 
already  been  able  to  see  before  it  was  bandaged.  Ten 
minutes  later  it  was  hardly  to  be  distinguished  from 
another  young  one  that  had  enjoyed  the  use  of  its  eyes 
without  interruption.  "  Placed  on  a  chair,  it  saw  that 
the  height  required  considering,"  knelt  down  and 
jumped  off.  After  ten  minutes  more  this  animal  was 
placed,  together  with  another,  twenty  feet  from  the 
sty.  Both  got  to  their  mother  in  live  minutes,  at  the 
same  instant. 

If,  in  the  last-mentioned  experiment,  smell  and  hear- 
ing not  being  excluded,  imitation  of  the  animal  whose 


SIGHT.  09 

sight  has  not  been  interrupted  is  possible  to  the  one 
that  has  been  for  only  twenty  minutes  able  to  see,  yet 
the  very  remarkable  fact  of  the  jumping  down  from  the 
chair  after  the  previous  kneeling  must  be  based  on  an 
act  of  sight.  The  operation  of  estimating  distance, 
however  imperfect  it  be  in  the  brain  of  an  animal  not 
yet  two  days  old,  and  not  able  to  see  till  within  ten 
minutes  before  jumping  down,  proves  that  even  thus 
early  the  third  dimension  of  space  comes  to  conscious- 
ness through  the  eye,  as  the  result  of  retinal  impres- 
sions, otherwise  the  animal  would  not  have  knelt 
before  jumping.  Now,  since  it  had  hitherto  had  no 
sight-perceptions,  and  in  those  ten  minutes  none  that 
gave  occasion  for  jumping,  the  association  of  retinal  ex- 
citement, estimate  of  distance,  muscular  movement  for 
kneeling  and  for  the  jumping  that  followed,  must  be 
inherited.  For  no  one  would  attribute  to  a  pig  so 
young,  blind  ten  minutes  before,  such  a  gift  of  inven- 
tion, as  to  initiate,  out  of  independent  deliberation, 
a  proceeding  so  rational  and  so  well  adapted  to  its  pur- 
pose. The  animal  jumps  because  its  ancestors  have 
jumped  countless  times  without  waiting  long  or  esti- 
mating carefully  the  distance.  A  human  infant  does 
not  possess  this  association  of  retinal  excitement  and  co- 
ordinated muscular  movement.  It  moves  without  pur- 
pose and  falls  from  the  chair.  The  young  Guinea-pig, 
on  the  other  hand,  does  not  jump  and  does  not  fall  by 
accident,  but  lets  itself  drop,  as  I  have  often  proved. 

Kids  kneel  and  see  on  the  first  day  of  life,  without 
any  example  for  imitation  and  without  guidance,  yet 
quickly  and  efficiently.  I  have  seen  them  suck  in  this 
manner  before  they  were  twenty-two  hours  old.     They 


70  THE   MIND   OF   THE   CHILD. 

stride  rather  awkwardly  up  to  the  mother,  snuff  at  her 
teats,  kneel  down  and  suck,  wagging  their  tails  continu- 
ally and  pushing  with  their  heads. 

In  the  human  being  so  many  more  associations  of 
sight  with  co-ordinated  muscular  movements  are  pos- 
sible than  in  the  brute  at  the  moment  of  birth,  that  it 
takes  a  longer  growth  after  birth  for  these  all  to  be  de- 
veloped. 

Not  before  the  sixth  week,  as  O.  Binswanger  has  dis- 
covered, are  fully-formed  ganglionic  cells  present  in  the 
human  cerebrum,  and  at  the  same  period  are  first  de- 
veloped the  cerebral  convolutions,  according  to  the  in- 
vestigations of  Sernoff".  Therefore,  not  only  does  the 
human  brain  continue  to  grow  after  birth,  but  it  differ- 
entiates itself  after  birth,  not  before  ;  since  not  until  the 
second  month  does  it  receive  its  characteristic  morpho- 
logical marks. 

Such  complicated  mechanisms  of  associations  as  those 
mentioned  can  not  be  developed  before  birth,  because  too 
many  other  established  inherited  mechanisms  go  along 
with  them.  They  are  all  present  potentially,  but  which 
of  them  finally  become  most  easily  operative  depends  on 
experience — i.  e.,  on  provocation  from  without,  the  more 
or  less  often  repeated  treacling  of  the  separate  paths  of 
association  in  the  cerebro-spinal  system.  In  other  words, 
the  child  learns  much  more  than  the  animal. 

The  philosopher,  Eduard  von  Hartmann,  as  early  as 
1872,  used  the  following  striking  language  with  refer- 
ence to  this  difference :  "  The  human  child  seems  to 
bring  nothing  at  all  with  him,  but  to  learn  everything ; 
in  reality,  however,  he  brings  everything,  or  at  any  rate 
far  more  than  does  the  lower  animal  that  creeps  all  com- 


SIGHT.  71 

plcte  out  of  the  egg ;  but  he  brings  everything  in  an 
immature  condition,  because  there  is  in  him  so  much  to 
be  developed  that  in  the  nine  months  of  embryonic  life 
it  can  only  be  prefigured  in  the  germ.  So,  then,  in  the 
progressive  development  of  the  infant  brain  the  matur- 
ing of  tendencies  goes  hand  in  hand  with  learning — i.  e., 
with  the  modification  of  these  tendencies  by  exercise ; 
and  the  result  is  far  richer  and  finer  than  can  be  attained 
in  the  brutes  by  mere  inheritance." 

The  superiority  of  the  animal,  which  utilizes  at  once 
its  retinal  excitations  for  its  own  advantage  in  jumping, 
is  thus  merely  an  apparent  one,  for  it  lacks  the  aptitude 
to  learn  other  ways  of  utilizing  experiences.  This  utili- 
zation may  be  conceived  of  as  an  inherited  logical  pro- 
cess— i.  e.,  as  instinctive  /  since  the  animal  is  born  more 
mature  than  the  human  being,  it  is,  unconsciously,  earlier 
capable  of  performance  such  as  the  human  being  learns 
later  through  individual  experience  and  accomplishes 
only  with  consciousness. 

The  same  holds  true  of  the  association  of  seeing  and 
touching,  seeing  and  seizing,  and  other  associations  of 
which  we  have  yet  to  speak. 

Still,  it  is  not  to  be  denied  that  in  man  also  the  at- 
tainment of  complicated  combinations  of  this  sort — of 
movements  of  the  muscles  of  the  eye  and  the  arm  upon 
receiving  certain  sense-impressions — is  essentially  assist- 
ed by  inherited  endowment.  The  muscular  movements 
fall  into  the  required  groove  without  imitation  the  more 
quickly,  in  proportion  as  these  have  been  the  habitual 
combinations  in  the  life  of  the  race. 


72  THE   MIND   OF   THE   CHILD. 

CHAPTER   II. 

HEARING. 

The  observations  concerning  the  gradual  develop- 
ment of  the  faculty  of  hearing  in  early  childhood  relate 
to  the  deafness  of  newly-born  children — which  is  nor- 
mally of  only  short  duration — and  to  the  babe's  hrst 
sensations  and  perceptions  of  sound.  Then  follow  some 
statements  concerning  the  hearing  of  new-born  animals. 

1.  The  Deafness  of  the  Newly-born. 

All  children  immediately  after  birth  are  deaf.  It 
was  formerly  conjectured  merely  that  the  reason  why 
the  new-born  child  can  not  hear  is  the  filling  of  the 
cavity  of  the  tympanum  with  mucus,  and  that  this 
physiological  deafness  lasts  until  the  cavity  is  emptied. 
It  is  now  settled  that  the  temporary  deafness  is  occa- 
sioned, also,  and  chieliy,  by  the  lack  of  air  in  the  cavity 
before  respiration. 

Several  investigators  have  found  in  the  middle  ear 
of  the  foetus  a  yellowish  liquid,  others  a  peculiar  ge- 
latinous substance.  Gelle  thinks  that  the  latter  comes 
from  a  strong  oedematous  infiltration  of  the  mucous 
membrane  of  that  part,  and  has  its  place  supplied  soon 
after  birth  with  air,  by  means  of  the  respiratory  move- 
ments, after  it  has  become  liquid — as  he  proved  that  it 
does  become,  shortly  before  birth.  He  found  in  a  cat, 
half  an  hour  after  birth,  both  tympanic  cavities  filled 
with  air,  and  no  remaining  trace  of  the  gelatinous  magma. 


HEARING.  73 

The  animal  had  cried  out,  and  its  lungs  contained  a  good 
deal  of  air. 

The  question  how  far  this  gelatinous  tissue,  hyper- 
emia and  swelling  of  the  mucous  membrane  of  the 
tympanic  cavity,  a  sub-epithelial  layer  of  the  membrane, 
fill  up  the  tympanic  cavity  before  the  first  respiration, 
is  not  yet  decisively  answered.  Neither  has  the  point 
of  time  been  ascertained,  after  how  many  respirations 
the  Eustachian  tube,  in  the  human  being,  is  permeable. 

Probably  the  advent  of  respiration  is  not  alone  suffi- 
cient to  accomplish  the  emptying  of  the  tympanic  cavi- 
ties after  birth  and  the  filling  of  them  with  air ;  rather 
are  repeated  swallowing  and  breathing  essential  to  it, 
and  a  few  respirations  are  not  sufficient,  as  Lesser  proved, 
to  replace  with  air  the  liquid  contents  of  the  tympanic 
cavity  of  the  foetus,  or  to  change  their  character.  Only 
after  several  hours'  respiration  can  air  be  proved  to 
exist  in  the  middle  ear  along  with  the  liquid;  but  Lesser 
found  that  the  rapidity  with  which  the  liquid  gave  place 
to  air  did  not  sustain  a  constant  relation  to  the  duration 
of  the  extra-uterine  existence.  As  Lesser  examined  forty- 
two  new-born  human  beings,  of  whom  thirteen  were 
still-born,  sixteen  had  lived  a  few  minutes  after  birth, 
and  thirteen  had  lived  several  hours  or  days,  greater 
value  is  to  be  attributed  to  his  results  than  to  the  iso- 
lated experiences  of  others.  His  results  are  of  practical 
importance,  and  are  especially  remarkable  in  that  they 
show  that  the  foetal  condition  of  the  middle  ear  in 
children  prematurely  born  may  persist  more  than  twenty 
hours  after  birth.  Such  children,  according  to  this, 
must  be  deaf  somewhat  longer  than  those  born  at  the 
full  time. 


74  TIIE   MIND   OF   THE   CHILD. 

As  to  the  rest,  the  old  view  of  Scheel  (1798),  accord- 
ing to  which  the  amniotic  fluid  comes  directly  into  the 
middle  ear  before  birth  through  the  Eustachian  tube,  as 
the  air  does  after  birth,  namely,  through  swallowing,  is 
not  improbable.  And  we  can  not  help  agreeing  with 
him  when  he  observes  that  because  some  of  the  amniotic 
fluid  remains  in  the  tympanic  cavity  during  the  first 
days  after  birth,  a  loud  sound  is  less  injurious  to  the 
organ  of  hearing  than  if  the  cavity  were  at  once  filled 
with  air.  The  collection  of  fluid  in  the  middle  ear 
makes  adults  also  hard  of  hearing.  It  was  well  said  by 
Herholdt  (1797) :  "  Experiments  made  on  animals  have 
convinced  me  that  in  the  foetus  the  tympanic  cavity  is 
completely  filled  with  mucus  and  amniotic  fluid,  which 
enters  and  is  renewed  through  the  Eustachian  tube.  So 
the  remainder  of  the  amniotic  fluid  and  that  in  the 
tympanic  cavity  are  in  equilibrium  and  the  tympanum 
is  pressed  equally  from  all  sides.  By  this  the  tympanic 
cavity  is  relieved  during  the  growth  of  the  fcetus  from 
the  obstacles  that  might  stand  in  the  way  of  its  proper 
development,  and  the  tender  tympanic  membrane  is  pro- 
tected from  harm.  After  birth  the  liquor  flows  out 
slowly  through  the  same  channel,  and  the  atmospheric 
air  takes  its  place.  Then  first  can  the  organs  of  hear- 
ing perform  their  functions,  though  not  perfectly  until 
their  development  has  become  complete  and  the  bones 
of  the  head  are  firm  and  in  reciprocal  connection.  The 
older  physicians,  who  did  not  know  this,  dreamed  of 
an  hereditary  or  inborn  atmosphere." 

In  accord  with  this  are  the  investigations  of  Mol- 
denhauer  and  Von  Troltsch  (18S0).  The  latter  is  of 
opinion  that  the  hyperplastic  mucous  membrane,  which 


HEARING.  75 

in  the  foetus  almost  fills  up,  like  a  cushion,  the  aperture 
of  the  tympanic  cavity,  often  shrinks  together  before 
birth ;  the  mucous  cushion  may  even  disappear  within 
the  uterus,  in  which  case  something  else  must  occupy 
its  place,  and  this  can  only  be  the  amniotic  fluid. 

Besides  the  lack  of  air  in  the  tympanic  cavity,  there 
is  also  to  be  taken  into  account,  as  a  cause  of  the  deaf- 
ness of  the  human  being  at  birth,  the  temporary  closing 
of  the  external  auditory  canal,  which  is  due,  according 
to  IJrbantschitsch,  not  to  epithelial  agglutination,  but  to 
absolute  contact  of  the  coatings  of  the  auditory  canal. 
Many  animals,  also,  but  probably  no  birds,  are  for  this 
reason  deaf,  or  hard  of  hearing,  directly  after  birth.  So 
much  the  more  surprising  is  the  sensitiveness  of  others, 
e.  g.,  of  the  Guinea-pig,  of  which  something  will  be  said 
by-and-by. 

If  the  tympanic  cavity  in  the  new-bom  child  is  al- 
ready filled  with  air,  a  deafness  of  half  an  hour,  or  of  sev- 
eral hours,  or  even  of  several  days,  may  be  caused  by  the 
closing  of  the  external  auditory  canal  (the  obstruction  does 
not  very  quickly  disappear),  or  by  the  narrowness  of  the 
canal.  The  difference  in  the  results  of  observations  ac- 
cording to  which  infants  from  one  to  three  days  some- 
times react  distinctly  upon  the  stimulus  of  sound,  some- 
times ignore  it  completely,  seems  intelligible,  however, 
if  we  only  take  into  account  the  varying  rapidity  with 
which  the  Eustachian  tube  and  the  auditory  canal  are 
pervious  to  air,  apart  from  all  other  obstacles,  even  pos- 
sible cerebral  ones.  On  the  other  hand,  I  must  posi- 
tively pronounce  false  the  statements  according  to  which 
children  from  three  to  four  months  old  possess  normally 
very  slight  capacity  of  hearing,  and  according  to  which 


76  THE   MIND   OF   THE   CHILD. 

it  is  hard  to  give  a  decided  opinion  as  to  whether  such 
children  hear  at  all  or  not.  My  observations  upon  many 
infants  and  my  information  from  trustworthy  mothers 
leave  no  doubt  that,  long  before  the  third  month,  in  the 
normal  condition,  the  human  voice  is  heard  ;  and  in 
fact  mature  and  sound  children  before  the  close  of  the 
lirst  week  of  life  react,  in  unmistakable  fashion,  upon 
the  stimulus  of  loud  sound,  as  Dr.  Kroner,  of  Breslau, 
also  found. 

The  longer  continuance  of  difficulty  of  hearing  is 
certainly  of  great  advantage  to  the  infant,  as  it  stands  in 
the  way  of  the  multiplication  of  reflex  movements,  and 
so  of  the  tendency  to  convulsions. 

But  if  children  born  at  the  right  time  make  no 
movement  in  the  fourth  week  when  a  loud  sound  is  made 
behind  them,  then  there  is  reason  to  suspect  that  such 
children  will  remain  deaf  and  dumb. 

2.  The  First  Sensations  and  Perceptions  of  Sound. 

How  many  hours,  days,  or  weeks  after  birth  the  very 
earliest  sensations  of  sound  are  experienced  it  is  not 
easy  to  determine  very  accurately,  for  the  reason  that 
an  unmistakable  sign  that  a  sensation  of  sound  has  been 
experienced  is  lacking.  Movements  of  the  eyelids, 
starting,  throwing  up  the  arms,  and  screaming,  which 
appear  in  the  child  at  the  stimulus  of  sudden  loud  sound, 
appear  readily  at  fright  caused  by  any  strong  impression, 
while  slight  noises  and  soft  tones  remain  unnoticed. 
The  turning  of  the  head  toward  the  invisible  source  of 
sound  does  not  take  place  till  later. 

Frequently- repeated  attempts  to  test  the  ability  of 
the  newly-born  to  hear,  leave  no  doubt  that  it  is  in- 


HEARING.  77 

creased  by  exercise,  and  that  an  occasional  temporary 
dullness  occurs.  But  the  experiments  made  thus  far 
are  too  scanty  and  uncertain. 

Kussmaul  could  make  the  loudest  discordant  noises 
near  the  ears  of  new-born  children  during  the  first  days, 
while  they  were  awake,  without  any  reaction  on  their 
part.  Numerous  experiments  made  by  him  in  this  di- 
rection had  only  a  negative  result.  But  he  adds  that 
another  cautious  observer,  Feldbausch,  has  seen  sleeping 
children  more  than  three  days  old  start  when  he  broke 
the  silence  by  clapping  his  hands  hard.  Champney's 
child,  on  the  contrary,  did  not  react  before  the  fourth 
week  upon  any  noise,  however  loud,  not  even  clapping 
of  the  hands,  if  there  was  no  vibration  of  the  room  or 
of  the  bed.  If  a  door  was  slammed-to,  the  child  start- 
ed, just  as  it  did  directly  after  birth  when  the  scales  of 
the  balance  in  which  it  lay  suddenly  sprang  up.  When 
fourteen  days  old,  this  child  turned  its  eyes  toward  its 
mother  when  she  spoke  to  it,  but  as  it  did  not  at  that 
time  stir  at  any  noise,  however  loud,  if  there  was  no 
shaking,  this  turning  may  be  attributed  to  the  feeling 
of  warmth  at  being  breathed  upon ;  for  the  movement 
took  place  only  when  the  mother's  face  was  turned  to- 
ward the  babe,  and  it  was  presumably  a  movement  of  the 
head  rather  than  of  the  eyes. 

Genzmer  was  the  first  to  make  experiments  by 
measuring.  He  ascertained  the  greatest  distances  at 
which  infants'  eyelids  quivered  at  the  striking  of  a  little 
bell,  which  was  done  in  just  the  same  way  always,  with 
a  small  iron  rod.  It  appeared  that  almost  all  children 
of  one  day,  or  certainly  of  two  days,  react  upon  impres- 
sions of  sound,  but  their  sense  of  hearing  is,  without 


78  THE   MIND   OF   THE   CHILD. 

much  reference  to  the  degree  of  their  maturity,  at  first 
unequal,  and  grows  more  acute  within  the  first  weeks. 
The  average  distance  at  which  the  striking  of  the  bell 
was  heard  was  found  to  be  eight  to  ten  inches,  but  the 
figures  varied  from  one  to  twenty.  In  one  case,  that 
of  a  very  active  child,  the  distance  on  the  first  day  was 
eight,  on  the  sixth  eighteen,  on  the  twenty-fourth 
twenty-four  inches  ;  with  a  phlegmatic  child,  the  audi- 
tory reflexes  were  on  the  first  day  irregular,  on  the 
eighth  they  occurred  at  five,  on  the  twenty-fourth  at 
eleven  inches  distance  from  the  bell.  It  may  be  seen 
from  these  figures  how  unequal  the  progress  is.  But 
as  the  sound  could  hardly  be  of  exactly  the  same  force 
in  all  the  experiments,  and  as  the  quivering  of  the  eye- 
lids is  not  caused  by  the  stimulus  of  sound  exclusively, 
and  as  not  every  sound-stimulus  is  responded  to  by  a 
quiver  of  the  eyelids,  this  whole  series  of  experiments, 
limited  to  about  thirty  observations,  on  fifteen  children, 
is  uncertain. 

The  observations  of  Dr.  Moldenhauer  likewise  leave 
much  that  is  doubtful,  although  his  mode  of  proceeding 
is  better.  He  made  use,  as  a  test  of  the  hearing,  of  the 
French  toy,  cri-eri,  which  gives  a  loud,  brief,  disagree- 
able sound,  with  discordant  high  overtones.  This  sound 
continues  almost  exactly  identical  after  many  experi- 
ments, and  can  be  made  quite  close  to  the  ear  without 
involving  other  stimulus.  The  most  important  result 
of  this  experiment  was  that,  with  very  few  exceptions, 
children  distinctly  reacted  at  once  upon  the  sound- 
stimulus  at  the  first  trial.  Yet  the  degree  of  the  reac- 
tion was  extraordinarily  unequal  in  different  individu- 
als, and  in  the  same  individuals  on  different  days.    Fifty 


HEARING.  79 

children  were  tested.  Of  these  only  ten  were  less  than 
twelve  hours  old  (these  all  reacted),  and  only  seven  from 
twelve  to  twenty-four  hours  old,  all  the  rest  older.  The 
least  degree  of  reaction  was  indicated  by  a  distinct 
quiver  of  the  eyelids,  even  without  interruption  of 
sleep ;  a  stronger  degree  by  wrinkling  of  the  forehead. 
Then  came  head-movements,  mostly  single  short  twist- 
ings  of  the  head  ;  finally,  starting,  accompanied  by  vio- 
lent quivering  of  the  head,  the  arms,  and  the  upper  part 
of  the  body ;  sleeping  children  awoke  and  screamed. 
The  reflexes  occurred  more  plainly  and  more  quickly 
after  the  end  of  the  second  day  than  on  the  first  two 
days.  In  experiments  that  followed  one  another  in 
quick  succession,  there  was  very  often  manifested  a 
dullness,  going  as  far  as  entire  absence  of  reaction. 

Children  sleeping  soundly,  and  babes  nursing,  re- 
acted less  distinctly  than  those  awake  or  half  asleep. 

Most  children,  then,  even  those  born  three  or  four 
weeks  too  early,  respond  in  the  first  dajTs  to  strong  im- 
pressions of  sound  by  reflex  movements  in  the  region 
of  the  facialis.  The  action  of  those  just  born,  in  the 
first  five  hours,  was  not  investigated.  The  four  young- 
est were  six  hours  old,  as  the  author  tells  me.  Deaf- 
ness was  in  some  few  cases  (four  out  of  fifty)  well  es- 
tablished, even  after  more  than  twenty-four  hours  ;  thus 
my  observation  that  no  reaction  follows  upon  sound-im- 
pressions immediately  after  birth  is  not  modified  by 
this  discovery.  In  fact,  I  saw  a  strong  child,  of  ten 
hours,  that  did  not  react  in  the  least  upon  the  cri-cri, 
and  I  saw  one  of  six  days  react  very  slightly. 

Moldenhauer  found  further  that,  of  four  children 
who  were  tested  for  the  first  time  after  more  than 


80  THE   MIND   OF   THE   CHILD. 

twenty-four  hours  and  did  not  react,  three  did  distinct- 
ly react  in  later  repeated  experiments  in  the  same  hour 
or  on  the  following  day.  A  child  of  three  days  did  not 
react  even  at  the  second  trial. 

When  the  bell  that  has  been  mentioned  was  struck 
by  Genzmer  softly,  very  near  the  ear  of  children  that 
heard  well  (probably  more  than  two  days  old),  they 
sometimes  turned  the  head  to  that  side ;  if  occupied 
with  nursing,  they  broke  off  from  their  occupation. 
Very  violent  striking  of  the  bell  made  them  restless.  I 
have  likewise  observed  that  infants  are  greatly  dis- 
turbed by  strong  sound-stimulus,  just  as  new-born  ani- 
mals are ;  e.  g.,  the  shrill  whistle  of  a  locomotive  near  by 
easily  produces  persistent  lively  movements  and  violent 
screaming  in  a  child  previously  perfectly  quiet.  Not 
every  infant,  indeed,  shows  so  strong  a  reaction,  nor 
does  any  in  the  first  hour  of  life.  But  on  the  ninth 
day  the  turning  of  the  head  (in  my  judgment  accident- 
al) toward  the  source  of  sound  was  observed  by  Mol- 
denhauer. 

Too  great  a  range  is,  however,  commonly  allowed 
for  individual  differences.  When  some  children  are  re- 
ported as  starting  at  loud  sounds,  even  on  the  first  day, 
others  after  three  days,  others  again  not  till  after  eight 
weeks,  there  is  reason  to  attribute  the  last  statements  to 
inaccurate  observation,  unless  they  apply  only  to  those 
hard  of  hearing  or  prematurely  born  ;  or,  unless  too 
deep  sounds  and  unsuitable  noises  were  employed. 

If  a  small  tuning-fork,  in  vibration,  warmed  and 
carefully  placed  on  the  head,  produces  no  other  reaction 
than  that  produced  by  a  fork  not  in  vibration,  similarly 
placed,  we  may  infer  that  the  inner  ear  has  some  share 


HEARING.  81 

in  the  deafness  of  the  newly-born.  But  such  experi- 
ments must  be  made  on  many  individuals.  Molden- 
hauer  got  no  definite  result  with  tuning-forks  on  ac- 
count of  the  sensitiveness  of  the  skin  of  the  head. 

A  very  vigorous  male  child,  born  after  his  time,  was 
seen  by  Dr.  Deneke,  in  the  lying-in  asylum  at  Jena,  six 
hours  after  birth,  to  close  his  eyes  tighter  every  time 
the  doctor  struck  two  metallic  covers  together  close  to 
his  ear.  In  this  case,  however,  the  reflex  may  have  been 
started  by  the  current  of  air  arising  from  the  sudden 
motion.  A  very  strong  new-born  child,  weighing  nearly 
four  and  a  quarter  kilogrammes,  did  not  react  upon 
any  noise,  when  I  tested  it  half  an  hour  after  birth. 
That  is  the  way  all  ordinary  children  behave  just  after 
birth.  By  ever  so  loud  a  noise,  clapping  of  hands  close 
to  the  ear,  whistling,  very  loud  screaming,  they  are  not 
within  the  first  half  hour,  according  to  my  experiments, 
brought  to  screaming  from  a  state  of  quiet,  nor  quieted 
if  they  are  screaming.  But  they  cry  out  if  you  blow 
on  them,  if  you  press  softly  on  their  temples,  or  strike 
thetn  upon  the  thigh,  after  they  have  begun  to  breathe. 
Only  there  is  a  noticeably  longer  interval  between  the 
contact  and  the  outcry  than  at  a  later  period. 

I  saw  my  child,  in  the  twenty-first  hour  of  life, 
move  both  arms  symmetrically,  at  a  loud  call,  but  this 
is  perhaps  to  be  attributed  to  being  breathed  on ;  for 
clapping  of  hands,  whistling,  speaking,  produced  no 
result,  and  on  the  second  and  third  days  no  reaction 
upon  sound-stimulus  could  be  induced.  It  was  not  until 
the  first  half  of  the  fourth  day  that  I  was  convinced 
that  my  child  was  no  longer  deaf.  For  hand-clapping, 
or  whistling,  close  to  him  then  produced  sudden  open- 


82  THE   MIND   OF   THE   CHILD. 

ing  of  the  half-shut  eyes,  as  the  child  lay  warm  and 
satisfied  with  food,  and  to  all  appearance  comfortable. 
As  this  result  followed  every  time  on  repeated  trials 
the  fourth  day,  but  not  once  on  the  third  day,  there 
can  be  no  doubt  that  in  this  case  the  sound  was  heard 
by  means  of  the  tympanum  on  the  fourth  day,  but  not 
before.  It  also  happened  for  the  first  time  on  the 
fourth  day,  and  indeed  several  times,  that  the  child 
when  crying  stopped  as  soon  as  I  began  to  whistle  close 
to  him.  This  observation  was  made  also  upon  babes  of 
two  and  three  days  old.  On  the  eleventh  and  twelfth 
days  I  noticed  that  my  child  became  quiet  always  at 
the  sound  of  my  voice,  which  seemed  also  to  call  forth 
a  sort  of  intense  expression  of  countenance  that,  how- 
ever, can  not  be  described. 

On  the  twenty-fifth  day  pulsation  of  the  lids  often 
followed  when  I  spoke  to  the  child  in  a  low  voice,  stand- 
ing before  and  near  him.  On  the  following  day  he 
started  suddenly  when  a  dish  that  he  could  not  see  was 
noisily  covered  near  him.  He  is  frightened,  then,  al- 
ready, at  unexpected  loud  sounds,  as  adults  are.  On  the 
thirtieth  day  this  fright  was  still  more  strongly  mani- 
fested. I  was  standing  before  the  child  as  he  lay  quiet, 
and  being  called,  I  said  aloud,  without  changing  my 
position,  "  Ja !  "  (yes).  Directly  the  child  threw  both 
arms  high  up  quickly,  and  made  a  convulsive  start  with 
the  upper  part  of  his  body,  while  at  the  same  time  his 
expression,  which  had  been  one  of  contentment,  became 
very  serious.  The  same  scene  was  enacted  at  another 
time  on  the  slamming  of  a  door. 

In  the  fifth  week  the  sensibility  to  sound  has  in- 
creased to  such  a  degree  that  the  child  seldom  sleeps  in 


HEARING.  83 

the  daytime  if  any  one  walks  about  or  speaks  in  the 
room ;  whereas,  so  late  as  the  seventh  day,  a  loud  call 
did  not  wake  the  sleeping  child.  The  increased  sensi- 
bility is  also  proved  by  the  quick  turnings  of  the  head 
when  any  one  sits  on  the  child's  bed  without  being  seen 
by  him,  and  also  by  the  starting  at  moderately  loud 
noises. 

In  the  sixth  week  I  noticed  this  starting  at  quite  in- 
significant noises,  even  when  the  child  was  asleep  and 
did  not  wake.  About  this  time  he  could  already  be 
quieted  at  once,  when  he  was  screaming,  by  his  mother's 
singing.  The  first  time  this  happened  the  child  opened 
his  eyes  wide,  evidently  a  symptom  of  astonishment  at 
the  new  sensations  of  sound.  On  the  following  day, 
when  his  mother  again  quieted  him  by  singing,  he  gazed 
at  her  with  wide-open  eyes  (cf .  p.  46),  so  that  I  already 
suspected  he  had  associated  the  tones  he  heard  with  the 
oval  of  the  face  he  saw,  as  is  unquestionably  the  case 
with  older  children  (e.  g.,  of  four  months)  when  they 
laugh  and  utter  joyous  cries  as  soon  as  the  mother  sings 
anything  to  them. 

In  the  seventh  week  the  fright  at  a  loud  sound  was 
still  greater  than  before.  Dishes  fell  to  the  floor  several 
times  while  the  child  was  asleep.  Instantly  both  arms 
went  up  swiftly,  and  remained  for  more  than  two 
minutes  upright  in  that  strange  position  with  fingers 
outstretched  and  parallel,  without  the  child's  waking. 
The  attitude  reminded  one  of  the  spreading  of  the  wings 
of  a  frightened  bird.  There  appears  to  be  already  a 
greater  sensibility  to  tones,  possibly  to  melodies,  for  an 
expression  of  the  greatest  satisfaction  is  perceived  on 
the  child's  face  when  his  mother  hushes  him  with  cradle- 


84  THE   MIND   OF   THE    CHILD. 

songs  softly  sung.  It  is  worth  noticing,  also,  that  even 
when  he  is  crying  from  hunger  a  low  sing-song  causes 
a  pause  in  the  crying  and  attracts  attention.  Speaking 
does  not  effect  this  invariably,  by  any  means. 

In  the  eighth  week  the  infant  heard,  for  the  first 
time,  the  music  of  an  instrument — the  piano.  He  made 
known  his  satisfaction  at  the  new  sensation  by  an  un- 
usual straining  of  the  eyes  and  by  lively  movements  of 
arms  and  legs  at  every  forte,  as  well  as  by  smiles  and 
laughter.  The  higher  and  softer  tones  made  no  such 
impression.  This  delight  in  music  manifested  itself  in 
like  manner  in  the  following  months,  from  which  we 
may  conclude  that  more  than  a  year  before  the  first  im- 
perfect attempt  at  speech  there  is  discrimination  between 
(musical)  sounds  and  noises.  The  child  of  two  or  of 
three  months  often  utters  sounds  of  satisfaction  when  it 
hears  music. 

In  the  ninth  week  the  sound  of  a  repeating  watch, 
wmich  had  earlier  produced  not  the  least  impression  on 
the  child,  now  aroused  his  attention  to  the  highest  pitch. 
But  his  head  was  not  turned  with  certainty  toward  the 
source  of  sound,  whereas  he  would  follow  a  moving 
hand  accurately.  At  every  sudden  noise,  scream,  call, 
tones,  clapping  of  hands,  there  is  a  quick  shutting  and 
opening  of  the  eyes,  and  very  often  the  arms  are  at  the 
same  time  lifted  quickly,  no  matter  in  what  position  the 
body  is  held.  The  same  in  the  fourth  month.  In  the 
seventh  and  eighth  the  closing  of  the  lids  predominates. 
The  raising  of  the  arms  has  already  become  rare. 

In  the  eleventh  week  I  noticed  for  the  first  time, 
what  some  others  have  not  perceived  before  the  second 
quarter  of  the  year,  though  some  have  done  so  earlier, 


HEARING.  85 

that  tlie  child,  beyond  doubt,  moved  his  head  in  the  di- 
rection of  the  sound  heard.  I  knocked  on  a  mirror,  be- 
ing behind  him.  Immediately  he  turned  his  head  round 
toward  the  source  of  the  sound.  At  this  period  it  is  in 
general  surprising  with  what  ease  single  tones,  scales, 
and  chords  attract  the  attention  of  the  babe,  to  such  a 
degree  that  the  greatest  restlessness  subsides  at  once 
when  these  are  sounded,  and  he  hearkens  with  an  in- 
tense gaze. 

In  the  twelfth  week  the  turning  of  the  head  toward 
the  sounding  body  was  sudden,  even  when  the  look  did 
not  take  at  once  the  right  direction.  When  the  direc- 
tion was  found,  the  child  would  hearken  evidently  with 
close  attention  (cf.  p.  87.) 

In  the  sixteenth  week  the  turning  round  of  the  head 
toward  a  sound  takes  place  with  the  certainty  of  a  reflex 
movement.  Before  this  time  no  notice  at  all  was  taken 
of  more  distant  sound-stimulus — a  hand-organ  below  in 
the  garden,  the  voice  of  a  person  speaking  aloud  at  the 
other  end  of  the  room ;  now  both  these  sounds  cause 
lively  motions  of  the  head,  and  an  altered,  not  dissatis- 
fied, expression  of  countenance. 

The  first  noise  artificially  produced  by  the  child  him- 
self, one  that  gave  him  apparent  pleasure  and  was  ac- 
cordingly frequently  repeated,  was  the  crumpling  of 
paper  (especially  in  the  nineteenth  week).  In  the 
twenty-first  week,  at  the  beating  of  a  gong,  sounded 
for  the  purpose  of  taking  his  photograph,  he  became 
motionless — his  attention  was  so  enchained  by  the  new 
noise — and  stared  with  fixed  gaze  at  the  metallic  plate. 
In  general,  his  hearing  became  so  much  more  acute  in 
the  fifth  month  that,  when  taking  his  milk,  he  almost 


86  THE   MIND   OF  THE  CHILD. 

invariably  broke  off  from  his  occupation  and  turned 
about  whenever  a  noise,  not  altogether  too  slight,  was 
made  near  him. 

After  a  half-year  the  babe  often  kept  his  gaze  steadi- 
ly directed  for  minutes  at  a  time  on  my  face,  aud  with 
an  expression  of  wonder,  with  eyes  and  mouth  open, 
when  I  sang  single  notes  to  him.  He  utters  a  joyous 
cry  at  military  music. 

In  the  eighth  month  there  is  a  quick  closing  of  the 
lids,  a  single  wink  of  the  eyes  for  the  most  part,  not 
only  at  every  loud,  sudden  sound-impression,  but  even 
at  every  new  one — e.  g.,  when  the  voices  of  animals  are 
imitated.  This  is  no  longer  the  expression  of  fright 
merely,  but  of  astonishment  also.  In  fright  there  has 
come,  in  place  of  the  raising  of  the  arms,  a  starting  of 
the  whole  body  and  a  convulsive  movement  of  arms  and 
legs  together,  which  was  also  observed  as  early  as  the 
second  month.  The  rapid  shutting  and  opening  of  the 
eyes  continued  unchanged. 

In  the  ninth  month,  when  the  child  more  than  twelve 
times  in  succession  shut  down  the  cover  of  a  large 
"caraffe,"  so  that  a  loud  slam  was  heard  every  time, 
this  winking  of  the  eyes  and  starting  of  the  whole  body 
took  place  every  time,  the  countenance  meanwhile  ex- 
pressing great  attention.  The  reflex  movements  in  this 
case  were  not,  then,  the  expression  of  fright,  for  the 
child  himself  eagerly  repeated  the  shutting  down  of  the 
cover  after  I  had  raised  it.  The  combined  tactual  and 
visual  impression  surpassed  in  interest  the  accompany- 
ing phenomenon  of  sound ;  the  intensity  of  the  latter, 
however,  was  so  great  as  to  involve  the  reflex  move- 
ments.    At  this  period  I  often  saw,  during  the  sleep  of 


HEARING.  87 

the  child,  lively  movements  of  the  hands  after  sound- 
impressions  that  did  not  waken  the  sleeper,  the  remains 
of  an  earlier  retiex  raising  of  the  arm.  Not  only  does 
the  child  turn  his  head  round  when  he  hears  my  voice 
without  seeing  me,  but  (as  also  in  the  tenth  month)  at 
every  new  loud  noise — e.  g.,  thunder.  So,  too,  the  turn- 
ing of  the  head  in  the  first  and  second  weeks,  when  a 
loud  sound  is  heard,  is  not  a  directing  of  the  head  toward 
the  source  of  sound  (p.  80) ;  this  does  not  take  place 
till  later  (p.  85). 

During  teething,  the  sensibility  to  acoustic  stimulus 
is,  moreover,  noticeably  increased.  A  loud  word  then 
produces  winking,  fright,  quicker  breathing,  screaming, 
and  tears. 

In  the  eleventh  and  twelfth  months,  the  screaming 
child  generally  allows  itself  to  be  quieted  in  a  few  mo- 
ments by  a  decided  "  Sh ! "  just  as  it  did  in  the  first 
month.  No  other  spoken  utterance  has  this  effect,  not 
even  the  sharp  "  ss "  or  "  pst,"  but  any  singing,  even 
false  notes,  will  do  it. 

At  this  time — the  three  hundred  nineteenth  day — 
occurred  a  remarkable  acoustic  experience,  which  gives 
evidence  of  great  intellectual  advance.  The  child 
struck  several  times  with  a  spoon  upon  a  plate.  It 
happened  accidentally,  while  he  was  doing  this,  that 
he  touched  the  plate  with  the  hand  that  was  free ; 
the  sound  was  dulled,  and  the  child  noticed  the  dif- 
ference. He  now  took  the  spoon  in  the  other  hand, 
struck  with  it  on  the  plate,  dulled  the  sound  again,  and 
so  on.  In  the  evening  this  experiment  was  renewed, 
with  a  like  result.  Evidently  the  function  of  causality 
had  emerged  in  some  strength,  for  it  prompted  the  ex- 


88  THE   MIND   OF   THE   CHILD. 

periment.  The  cause  of  the  dulling  of  the  sound  by 
the  hand — was  it  in  the  hand  or  in  the  plate?  The 
other  hand  had  the  same  dulling  effect ;  so  the  cause 
was  not  lodged  with  the  one  hand.  Pretty  nearly  in 
this  fashion  the  child  must  have  interpreted  his  sound- 
impression,  and  this  at  a  time  when  he  did  not  know  a 
single  word  of  his  later  language. 

In  the  twelfth  month  the  child  was  accustomed,  al- 
most every  morning,  to  observe  the  noisy  putting  of 
coals  into  the  stove,  A.  On  the  three  hundred  sixty- 
third  day  it  took  place  in  the  next  room,  in  the  stove, 
B.  The  child  at  once  looked  in  the  direction  of  the 
sound,  but  as  he  discovered  nothing  he  turned  his  head 
around  nearly  one  hundred  and  eighty  degrees,  and  re- 
garded the  stove,  A,  with  an  inquiring  gaze  :  that  stove 
had  already  been  filled.  This  likewise  shows  logical 
activity  applied  to  perceptions  of  sound,  and  this  before 
the  ability  to  speak. 

Such  experiments  were  from  time  to  time  carried 
on  after  this,  entirely  of  the  child's  own  accord ;  e.  g., 
in  the  thirtieth  month  the  child,  while  eating,  held  his 
hand  by  chance  to  his  ear  while  a  kettle  of  boiling  water 
stood  before  him.  At  once  he  becomes  attentive,  no- 
tices the  diminution  in  the  force  of  the  sound,  takes 
his  hand  away,  listens  in  silence,  open-mouthed  and 
with  an  expression  of  surprise,  to  the  modification  of 
the  sound,  holds  his  hand  to  his  ear  five  or  six  times, 
and  establishes  the  fact  anew  each  time,  like  an  experi- 
menter, until  the  connection  between  the  alteration  in 
the  sound  and  the  movement  of  the  hand  no  longer 
seems  wonderful,  because  he  has  perceived  it  several 
times. 


HEARING.  89 

I  note  here  that  one  of  the  earliest  sound-perceptions 
in  which  causality  operated  without  language,  is  the  one 
mentioned  (p.  87),    occurring  on  the  eighty-first  day. 

I  have  not  been  able,  notwithstanding  the  greatest 
attention  and  very  much  outlay  of  time,  to  record  any 
more  observations  of  this  sort  concerning  the  activity 
of  reasoning  without  speech,  in  the  domain  of  sound. 

After  the  end  of  the  first  year  the  child  strikes 
with  his  hands  on  the  keys  of  the  piano,  and  looks 
around  occasionally  while  doing  it,  as  if  to  assure  him- 
self that  somebody  is  listening  to  him.  He  takes  pleas- 
ure in  a  canary-bird,  laughing  when  it  moves  and  listen- 
ing in  silence  when  it  sings,  and  then  laughing  again. 
In  general,  laughing  is  frequent  in  the  following  months 
at  new  noises,  like  gurgling  or  clearing  the  throat  (fif- 
teenth month).     Even  thunder  made  the  child  laugh. 

A  favorite  acoustic  occupation  consisted  in  holding 
a  watch  to  his  ear  and  listening  to  the  ticking  (sixteenth, 
seventeenth,  and  twenty  fourth  months).  But  some- 
times the  watch  was  held  behind  the  auricle  and  some- 
times against  his  cheek.  If  I  held  it  above,  on  his  head, 
the  ticking  was  heard  (nineteenth  month),  as  could  be 
told  by  the  look  of  attention.  The  conduction  of  sound 
by  the  bones  must  have  been  already  established  for 
some  time  past. 

The  pleasure  in  music,  that  showed  itself  even  in 
the  first  three  months,  increased  manifestly  in  the  six 
following  months.  But  it  was  nearly  the  end  of  the 
second  year  before  the  child,  who  was  roused  to  the 
liveliest  movements  by  hearing  the  most  varied  kinds  of 
music,  performed  these  movements  in  time.  He  did 
indeed  dance,  but  in  his  own  fashion,  not  rhythmically 


90  TIIE   MIND   OF   THE   CIIILD. 

(twenty-first  month).  Somewhat  later,  he  would  him- 
self beat  time  with  tolerable  correctness  with  the  arms, 
or  with  one  arm,  trying  meanwhile  to  sing  over  a  song 
that  had  been  sung  to  him  (twenty-fourth  month),  but 
he  did  not  succeed  in  this  till  later,  and  then  imper- 
fectly. Playing  with  fife  and  drum  at  that  period  gave 
hardly  more  pleasure  than  striking  some  keys  of  the 
piano,  and  that  with  both  hands  at  once.  But  I  must 
add  that  it  was  absolutely  impossible,  notwithstanding 
much  pains,  to  teach  the  child  to  name  rightly  even  the 
three  notes  CDE  (end  of  third  year),  though  his 
hearing  for  noises  and  vocal  sounds  was  in  general 
acute. 

Another  child,  on  the  contrary,  a  girl,  could,  in  her 
ninth  month,  sing  correctly  every  note  given  her  from 
the  piano,  and  seemed  to  find  discords  unpleasant ;  at 
least  she  always  wept  bitterly  at  that  age  whenever  any 
one  blew  on  a  small  tin  trumpet.  This  child,  and  two 
others  of  the  same  family,  could  sing  before  they  could 
talk,  and  sing  correctly  airs  that  had  been  snng  to  them. 
Not  only  the  pitch,  but  the  stress  and  the  shade  of  tone 
are  given  by  such  musical  children  (in  the  eighth  month), 
who  listen  to  all  music  with  the  greatest  strain  of  atten- 
tion. Such  a  child  even  sang  itself  to  sleep  (in  the 
eighth  month),  and  later  (in  the  nineteenth  month),  ac- 
companied songs  and  pieces  sung  and  played  by  others, 
clapping  its  hands  in  correct  time.  (Frau  Dr.  Friede- 
mann.) 

Another  little  girl  takes  pleasure  in  hearing  music 
(in  the  eleventh  month),  likes  to  strike  on  the  keys  of 
the  piano,  and  when  any  one  begins  to  sing  airs  that 
have  often  been  sung  to  her,  she  springs  and  accompa- 


HEARING.  91 

nies  the  singing  with  the  movement  of  her  body,  and 
turns  her  hands  this  way  and  that.     (Fr.  v.  Striimpell.) 

Through  the  whole  of  the  third  year  it  was  not  easy 
to  waken  my  child  by  sound-impressions  alone.  He 
often  fell  asleep  even  when  there  was  a  racket  near 
him,  and  yet  his  hearing  was  acute  enough  when  he 
was  awake,  as  appears  from  the  observations  reported. 

Even  the  knowledge  of  the  direction  of  sound, 
though  imperfect,  still  appeared  earlier  than  in  other 
cases.  Darwin  reports — e.  g.,  that  one  of  his  acutely- 
hearing  children,  when  more  than  seventeen  weeks  old, 
did  not  easily  recognize  the  direction  from  which  a 
sound  came,  so  as  to  turn  its  gaze  thither ;  with  which 
should  be  compared  the  above  statements  (page  85) ; 
also  that  of  Yierordt,  that  sometimes  in  the  fourth 
month  the  child  begins  to  turn  his  head  in  the  direction 
of  the  sound ;  and  that  of  R.  Demme,  who  found  that 
of  about  one  hundred  children  only  two,  at  the  age  of 
three  and  three  and  a  half  months,  distinguished  the 
voices  of  their  parents  from  those  of  other  persons  call- 
ing to  them  ;  these  children  made  animated  movements 
and  joyous  utterances ;  all  the  other  children  were  much 
later  in  making  this  distinction. 

Individual  differences,  partly  hereditary,  partly  ac- 
quired, are  in  this  department  very  great. 

3.  The  Hearing  of  New-born  Animals. 

Guinea-pigs  not  yet  twelve  hours  old  show  unmis- 
takably, by  movements  of  the  ears,  as  I  found,  that 
they  hear  all  high  tones  of  from  one  thousand  to  forty- 
one  thousand  double  vibrations  a  second.  For  when, 
unseen  by  the  animals,  everything  around  being  still, 


92  THE   MIND   OF   THE   CHILD. 

I  struck  one  of  my  forty  small  tuning-forks  that  ranged 
through  that  interval  (from  the  C  of  the  third  octave  to 
the  E  of  the  eighth)  the  ears  of  the  animals  were  always 
immediately  moved  in  time,  either  lowered  or  folded ; 
and  at  loud  tones  the  creatures  invariably  started.  This 
reflex  movement,  nowhere  mentioned  hitherto,  viz., 
the  contraction  of  the  auricles,  took  place  with  such  ma- 
chine-like regularity  that  I  can  compare  no  other  move- 
ment with  it  in  regard  to  precision,  with  the  exception 
of  the  contraction  of  the  pupil  to  light.  In  grown 
Guinea-pigs  the  auditory  reflex  for  all  these  tones  of  the 
tuning-forks  is  likewise  easy  to  prove ;  but  it  is  some- 
times very  slight,  especially  after  frequent  repetition  of 
the  experiment.  In  the  first  half-hour  after  birth  it  is 
utterly  wanting.  New-born  animals  are  accordingly  deaf 
at  the  beginning. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  was  at  once  demonstrable  that 
all  healthy  Guinea-pigs  an  hour  after  birth,  even  those 
born  some  days  before  their  time,  respond  to  the  most 
varied  noises,  both  loud  and  soft — e.  g.,  clapping  of 
hands,  by  a  quiver  of  the  whole  body ;  at  first  often  by 
a  spring  and  by  movements  that  seem  like  attempts 
■  to  flee.  This  behavior  can  have  its  origin  only  in  he- 
redity. 

The  reflex  arc  from  the  auditory  nerve  to  the  motor 
nerves  has  been  so  frequently  used  by  their  ancestors, 
when  in  moments  of  danger  a  noise  made  flight  advisa- 
ble, that  the  representatives  of  the  present  generation, 
without  as  yet  any  knowledge  of  danger,  quiver  at  the 
first  noise  that  conies.  Even  in  the  human  babe  of  a 
few  days  old  the  starting  at  a  sudden  sound  is  a  relic  of 
this  fright,  and  the  same  is  true  of  adult  human  beings 


HEARING.  93 

and  horses.  The  first  movement  of  the  eyelid  upon 
sudden  noiseless  sight-impressions  is,  on  the  contrary, 
to  be  explained  differently,  as  I  showed  above  (page  28)  ; 
because  the  movements  of  flight,  the  starting  and  the 
drawing  back  of  the  head,  are  wanting  in  the  begin- 
ning. 

Kew-born  Guinea-pigs  are  especially  sensitive  to 
sounds  of  slight  intensity.  They  recognize  their  mother 
by  hearing  on  the  first  day  of  their  life,  even  when  she 
grunts  quite  softly  and  interruptedly,  whereas  they  do 
not  recognize  her  by  sight  after  four  or  five  days,  as 
I  found  (1878)  by  a  series  of  laborious  experiments. 
As,  moreover,  the  voice  of  the  mother  and  that  of  the 
other  little  ones  of  the  same  litter  produces  a  direct 
movement  toward  the  source  of  the  sound,  when  the 
members  of  the  family  have  been  separated,  the  direc- 
tion from  which  the  sound  comes  must  be  perceived  on 
the  first  day. 

The  same  is  true  of  new-born  swine.  For  Spalding 
observed  that,  at  the  age  of  only  a  few  minutes,  if  they 
are  removed  several  feet  from  their  mother,  they  soon 
find  their  way  back  to  her,  guided  apparently  by  the 
grunting  she  makes  in  answer  to  their  squealing.  The 
mother,  in  one  case  that  was  observed,  got  up  in  less  than 
an  hour  and  a  half  after  giving  birth  to  the  young,  and 
went  off  to  feed  ;  the  young  ones  went  around  and  tried 
in  every  way  to  get  nourishment,  followed  the  mother  and 
sucked  while  she  ate  standing.  One  of  the  young  ones 
was  put  in  a  bag  the  moment  it  was  born  and  kept  in 
the  dark  till  it  was  seven  hours  old.  Then  it  was  placed 
outside  the  sty,  a  distance  of  ten  feet  from  where  the  sow 
lay  concealed  inside  the  house.     The  pig  soon  '  recog- 


94  THE   MIND   OF   THE   CHILD. 

nized '  the  low  grunting  of  its  mother,  went  along  out- 
side the  sty,  struggling  to  get  under  or  over  the  lower  bar. 
At  the  end  of  five  minutes  it  succeeded  in  forcing  itself 
through  under  the  bar,  at  one  of  the  few  places  where 
that  was  possible.  No  sooner  in  than  it  went  without  a 
pause  into  the  pig-house  to  its  mother,  and  was  at  once 
like  the  others  in  its  behavior.  There  can  be  no  doubt 
that  in  this  search  the  sensation  of  sound  caused  by  the 
grunting  was  (for  the  creature  that  had  not  until  five 
minutes  before  been  exposed  to  the  light)  decisive  of  the 
direction  to  be  pursued.  Still,  smell  does  not  seem  to 
have  been  excluded. 

Among  the  animals  that  hear  well  at  the  very  be- 
ginning must  be  counted  the  chicken  just  from  the  egg. 
For  soon  after  leaving  the  shell,  as  soon  as  it  can  run,  it 
follows  the  cluck  of  the  hen ;  and  even  beforehand,  in 
the  egg  after  the  shell  has  begun  to  burst,  it  responds 
by  peeping  to  sounds  of  that  kind.  If  it  remains  for  a 
day  or  two  in  the  dark  after  it  has  been  hatched  in  the 
incubator,  and  is  then  exposed  to  the  light  at  a  distance 
of  nine  or  ten  feet  from  a  box  in  which  a  brooding-hen 
is  concealed,  it  will,  after  chirping  one  or  two  minutes, 
betake  itself  straight  to  the  box,  following  the  call  of  the 
hen,  though  it  has  never  seen  and  never  before  heard 
her.  This  takes  place,  too,  when  it  involves  the  over- 
coming of  obstacles  in  the  grass,  the  passage  over  un- 
even ground,  when  the  little  creatures  are  not  in  condi- 
tion to  stand  on  their  feet.  Even  chickens  deprived  of 
sight  from  the  first  follow  blindly  the  call  of  the  cluck- 
ing hen  when  they  come  within  five  or  six  feet  of  her. 
Mr.  Spalding,  who  conducted  both  these  experiments, 
also  made  chickens  deaf  before  they  left  the  shell  by 


HEARING.  95 

sealing  their  ears  with  several  folds  of  gummed  paper, 
uncovered  their  ears  again  after  two  or  three  days,  set 
them  free  within  call  of  the  hen  which  was  separated 
from  them  by  a  board,  and  then  saw  that,  after  turn- 
ing around  a  few  times,  they  ran  straight  to  the  spot 
whence  came  the  first  sound  they  had  ever  heard.  Tc 
them,  therefore,  the  first  sound-sensation  could  not  be 
empty  or  meaningless.  It  became  at  once  perception, 
and  inherited  memory  asserted  itself  in  a  psycho-motor 
way.  So  thinks  Spalding.  But  I  have  been  able  to 
prove  in  the  case  of  thirty  chickens  hatched  in  an  incu- 
bator, from  one  to  three  days  out  of  the  shell,  that  when 
food  had  been  placed  before  them  several  times  and  a 
knocking  upon  wood  made  at  the  same  time,  they  gen- 
erally ran,  every  time  I  knocked  in  their  neighborhood, 
to  the  spot  whence  the  noise  issued,  although  there  was 
no  food  there.  They  had,  therefore,  recognized  the 
direction  of  the  sound  already,  and  had  learned  some- 
thing, or  at  least  they  had  associated  that  special  sound 
with  the  food.  For  they  did  not  leave  their  place  for 
other  noises — e.  g.,  whistling  or  the  clucking  of  the  hen, 
which  they  had  never  before  heard  ;  but  they  listened 
instantly  to  the  clucking  when  I  brought  several  cluck- 
ing-hens  successively  into  the  neighborhood  unseen  by 
them,  and  they  started  at  a  loud  report  without  moving 
from  the  spot.  Besides,  it  is  questionable  whether  the 
chickens  with  ears  sealed  were  actually  deaf,  and  whether 
they  had  not  heard  the  voice  of  the  hen  before  the  stop- 
ping of  the  ears.  The  chick  peeps  before  the  shell  has 
a  crack  in  it,  as  I  often  perceived  ;  has,  therefore,  heard 
its  own  voice,  certainly,  before  emerging  from  the  shell, 
and  possibly  the  voices  of  others  likewise. 


96  THE   MIND   OF   THE   CHILD. 

At  all  events,  the  hearing  of  chickens  just  out  of  the 
shell,  and  of  many  new-born  mammals,  is  vastly  superior 
to  that  of  the  just-born  human  babe,  both  in  regard  to 
the  discrimination  of  pitch  and  loudness  of  sound,  and 
in  respect  to  the  perception  of  kinds  of  sound,  the  direc- 
tion and  perhaps  the  duration.  It  must  be  the  case  that 
the  normal  human  being  at  birth  hears  nothing,  then 
hears  individual  sounds  indistinctly,  then  hears  much 
indistinctly,  and  very  gradually  hears  distinctly  an  in- 
dividual sound  out  of  the  number  of  those  indistinctly 
heard,  finally  hears  much  distinctly,  and  distinguishes 
strong,  high  tones  earlier  than  deep  ones.  Every  mother 
loses  many  thousands  of  words  that  she  speaks,  whis- 
pers, or  sings  to  her  child,  without  the  child's  hearing  a 
single  one  of  them,  and  she  says  many  thousand  words 
to  him  before  he  understands  one.  But  if  she  did  not 
do  it,  the  child  would  learn  to  speak  much  later  and  with 
much  more  difficulty. 


CHAPTER  III. 

FEELING. 

The  observations  concerning  feeling  in  the  newly- 
born  and  the  infant  relate  chiefly  to  sensibility  to  con- 
tact, to  the  first  perceptions  of  touch,  and  to  sensibility 
to  temperature. 

1.  Sensibility  of  the  Newly-born  to  Contact. 
The  mature  new-born  child  is  known  to  be  less  sen- 
sitive to  painful  impressions  than  are  adults.     But  it 
would  be  a  mistake  to  infer  from  this  a  condition  of 


FEELING.  97 

anaesthesia  or  analgesia.  For  apart  from  anomalous 
cases,  as  of  new-born  children  apparently  dead,  scream- 
ing and  movements  can  be  elicited  from  children  and 
animals  just  born,  when  they  are  for  the  first  time  quiet 
and  motionless,  by  pinching  the  skin  ;  or,  in  the  case  of 
a  child,  by  slapping  the  upper  part  of  the  thigh.  I  have 
convinced  myself  most  fully  of  this  in  regard  to  chil- 
dren born  at  the  right  time,  and  prematurely  born 
animals  some  minutes  after  birth,  but  at  the  same  time 
I  was  convinced  that  the  expressions  of  pain  lack  by  a 
great  deal  the  intensity  and  duration  they  have  in  older 
children.  In  this  respect  the  newly-born  resembles  the 
foetus,  differing  from  it,  however,  to  this  extent,  that 
immediately  after  pulmonic  respiration  begins,  every 
sort  of  irritation  of  the  skin  produces  stronger  reflexes. 
Often  the  reflex  mechanism  starts  into  activity  at  once, 
the  first  time  air  is  breathed.  The  clock  was  already 
wound  up,  as  it  were,  but  the  pendulum  gets  its  regular 
swing  only  through  respiration.  Before  this  it  oscillated 
temporarily  and  with  breaks,  urged  only  by  weak  im- 
pulsions. By  the  act  of  birth  the  central  nervous  sys 
tem  is  first  literally  awakened.  And  there  is  nothing 
against  the  assumption  that  the  first  contact,  pressure  in 
the  act  of  birth,  causes  pain.  I  have  twice  heard  a  child 
scream  whose  head  only  was  as  yet  born,  and  the  ex- 
pression of  countenance  in  this  half-born  condition  was 
one  of  extreme  discomfort.  The  compression  of  the 
body,  and  the  compression  of  the  skull  that  had  just 
preceded,  probably  awakened  the  child  out  of  its  intra- 
uterine sleep. 

That  rude  contact  in  the  act  of  birth  may  cause  pain, 
in  the  strict  sense  of  the  word,  to  the  mature  foetus,  is 


98  THE   MIND   OF   THE   CHILD. 

probable,  because  the  foetus  may  in  the  same  circum- 
stances experience  pleasure ;  for  when  I  put  into  the 
mouth  of  the  screaming  child,  whose  head  alone  was  as 
yet  born,  an  ivory  pencil  or  a  finger,  the  child  began  to 
suck,  opened  its  eyes,  and  seemed,  to  judge  from  its 
countenance,  to  be  "  most  agreeably  affected  "  (cf.  p.  32). 

Since  in  adults  the  sensibility  of  the  skin  and  of  the 
mucous  membrane  varies  greatly  according  to  the  num- 
ber of  nerve-extremities  of  the  part  of  the  skin  that  is 
tested,  we  are  especially  interested  to  know  whether 
such  differences  in  sensibility  to  contact  are  already 
manifest  in  the  newly-born.  Kussmaul,  whose  experi- 
ments of  the  year  1859  were  repeated  and  supplemented 
by  Genzmer,  1873,  was  the  first  to  investigate  this  ques- 
tion experimentally.  He  found  several  facts  that  indi- 
cate the  hereditary  character  of  certain  differences.  I 
will  give  the  results  of  these  observers  on  this  point 
along  with  my  own. 

Tongue. — Tickling  the  tip  of  the  tongue  on  the  up- 
per surface  with  a  smooth  glass  rod  occasions  sucking 
movements ;  meantime  the  edges  of  the  tongue  curve 
upward  on  both  sides  of  the  rod  and  the  lips  protrude 
like  a  snout.  At  the  same  time  appears  the  pantomime 
that  indicates  the  sensation  "  sweet."  When  the  mid- 
dle of  the  tongue  is  touched  on  the  upper  surface,  the 
eyes  are  shut  tight,  the  nostrils  and  the  corners  of  the 
mouth  are  raised  ;  there  is  no  sucking.  Tickle  the  root 
of  the  tongue  and  of  the  palate,  and  the  results  are 
choking,  opening  the  mouth  wide,  sticking  out  the 
tongue,  lifting  of  the  larynx,  increased  secretion  of 
saliva,  pantomime  for  "bitter"  corresponding  to  the 
expression  of  nausea  in  adults. 


FEELING.  99 

These  differences  in  the  reflex  movements  and  the 
sensations,  according  to  the  part  of  the  tongue  tickled 
bv  the  rod,  whether  the  tip  of  the  tongue,  the  middle, 
or  the  root,  may  be  regarded  as  established  in  general, 
but  can  not  be  proved  in  every  individual  case.  Thus 
movements  do  not  invariably  follow  the  touching  of  the 
middle  of  the  tongue,  I  have  often  been  unable  to  elicit 
any  movements  at  all  from  new-born  children  by  using 
the  glass  rod.  Yet  in  most  cases  children  act  exactly  like 
just-born  rabbits  and  Guinea-pigs  in  this  respect,  sucking 
at  the  rod  when  it  presses  in  front,  and  pushing  it  out 
when  it  presses  in  the  back  part  of  the  cavity  of  the 
mouth.  When  an  infant  has  eaten  enough,  it  does  not 
suck  at  all,  and  when  tired  it  sucks  irregularly  and 
feebly.  But  the  results  obtained  in  regard  to  new-born 
children  whose  stomachs  are  empty  leave  no  doubt  that 
even  before  birth  the  two  paths  from  the  sensory  nerves 
of  the  tongue  to  the  beginning  of  the  motor  nerves  of  the 
tongue,  the  nervus  hypoglossus,  and  from  there  to  its  ex- 
tremities in  the  tongue,  are  developed  and  passable,  and 
that  the  sensibility  of  the  upper  surface  of  the  tongue — 
from  the  tip  to  the  root — to  contact  is,  like  that  of  the 
palate,  inborn  and  already  considerable,  entirely  apart 
from  sensibility  to  taste.  That  along  with  the  sucking 
at  the  rod  there  should  be  movements  of  swallowing  is 
a  further  consequence  of  that  practicability  of  the  reflex 
path  established  before  birth  in  the  swallowing  of  the 
amniotic  fluid.  But  none  will  assume  the  existence  of 
the  sensations  "  bitter  "  and  "  sweet "  at  the  mere  touch- 
ing of  the  tongue,  for  they  do  not  appear  in  such  con- 
ditions even  in  adults.  The  mimetic  movement  for 
"  sweet"  is  rather  that  of  satisfaction  associated  with  the 


100  THE   MIND   OF   THE   CHILD. 

agreeable  feeling  that  comes  with  sucking,  and  the 
mimetic  movement  for  "  bitter"  is  that  of  discomfort 
associated  with  the  disagreeable  feeling  manifested  by 
choking. 

Zips. — The  sensibility  of  the  lips  to  contact  is 
great  immediately  after  birth,  for  even  very  faint 
touches  of  them  with  a  feather  produce  (on  the  sixth 
day)  starting  or  movements  of  sucking,  provided  the 
newly-born  are  awake  and  hungry.  Especially  stroking 
of  the  lips  with  the  linger  easily  produces  sucking. 

But  I  have  not  seen  these  sucking  movements  ap- 
pear invariably  in  mature  children  just  born  or  in  ani- 
mals. A  machine-like  certainty  in  their  appearance  is 
wanting,  probably  because  those  just  born  are  not  in 
every  case  hungry.  The  situation  of  the  human  fetus 
makes  it  easy  for  the  lips  to  be  touched  by  the  hands 
long  before  birth,  and  the  swallowing  of  the  amniotic 
fluid  presupposes  a  streaming  of  it  over  the  edges  of 
the  lips  and  so  a  frequent  excitation  of  the  nerve-ex- 
tremities. 

The  reflex  sensibility  of  the  upper  lip  even  outside 
the  red  border,  which  is  surprising  on  the  first  day,  I 
found  also  in  the  seventh  week,  when  the  touching  of 
the  lip  produced  an  animated  play  of  feature  perceptibly 
greater  than  in  adults. 

Mucous  Membrane  of  the  Nose. — Irritation  of  the 
mucous  membrane  of  the  nose  causes,  in  the  mature 
newly-born,  strong  reflexes.  The  vapor  of  acetic  acid 
and  of  ammonia  occasions  violent  sneezing,  or  corruga- 
tion of  the  forehead,  or  at  least  blinking,  sometimes 
rubbing  of  the  face  with  the  hands.  Tickling  the  inner 
surface  of  the  wing  of  the  nose  produces  movements  of 


FEELING.  101 

the  eyelids,  stronger  and  appearing  sooner  on  the  side 
tickled  than  on  the  other.  If  the  irritation  is  increased, 
the  child  moves  its  head  and  puts  its  hands  toward  its 
face.  Sometimes,  too,  there  is  a  secretion  of  tears,  which 
is  the  more  remarkable  as  children  generally  shed  no 
tears  in  the  first  days  of  life. 

The  reflex  excitement  of  the  lachrymal  nerves  (ra- 
mus lacrymalis  nervi  trigemini)  and  the  reflex  secretion 
from  the  nerve-extremities  in  the  mucous  membrane  of 
the  nose  outward,  are  accordingly  possible  at  a  surpris- 
ingly early  period.  Here  we  have,  besides,  a  case  of  in- 
born reflex  activity  of  a  gland  within  the  domain  of  one 
and  the  same  nerve ;  for  the  centripetal  and  the  cen- 
trifugal (secretory)  fibers,  which  go  to  the  tear-gland, 
belong  to  the  fifth  cranial  nerve  (trigeminus). 

The  great  sensibility  of  the  nasal  mucous  membrane 
to  contact  is,  I  must  add,  not  present  until  the  last 
weeks  before  birth,  as  children  born  at  seven  months 
make  only  doubtful  responsive  movements.  Yet  this 
sensibility  has  been  found  to  be  just  as  great  in  a  child 
born  at  eight  months  as  in  those  born  at  the  right  time. 
It  is  a  purely  hereditary  peculiarity.  Since  there  is 
hardly  any  occasion  within  the  womb  for  an  excitement 
of  the  inner  surface  of  the  nostril,  this  reflex  arc  from 
the  nasal  branches  of  the  fifth  cranial  nerve  to  the  face- 
nerve  (facialis)  must  be  a  very  firmly  established  one. 

The  same  is  true  of  the  reflex  paths  that  go  from 
the  extremities  of  the  trigeminus  in  the  nasal  mucous 
membrane  to  the  spinal  motor  nerves,  inasmuch  as  a 
regular  shaking  has  been  observed  by  me  to  follow 
upon  a  gentle  touch  of  the  nasal  mucous  membrane. 
In  the  first  three   months  of   the    second    year,    my 


102  THE   MIND   OF   THE   CHILD. 

boy  one  day  accidentally  touched  the  septum  of  his 
nose  with  a  raveled  string.  He  at  once  made  a  wry 
face  (excitement  of  the  facialis),  did  not  cry  out, 
but  shook,  throwing  his  body  violently  this  way  and 
that,  as  if  the  certainly  very  disagreeable  sensation  of 
tickling  in  that  spot  were  to  be  shaken  off. 

Conjunctiva  and  Cornea  of  the  Eye  and  the  Eye- 
lid,— If  the  conjunctiva,  the  edge  of  the  cornea,  or  an 
eyelash  be  touched  in  the  newly-born,  a  closure  of  the 
lid  follows.  Which  of  these  parts  are  the  most  sensi- 
tive is  matter  of  dispute.  Kussmaul  thinks  the  lashes, 
but  Genzmer  could  touch  these  three  or  four  times  in 
some  children  without  causing  closing  of  the  lid,  where- 
as the  closure  never  failed  when  the  cornea  was  touched, 
and  generally  touching  of  the  conjunctiva  was  followed 
by  a  bilateral  closing  of  the  lids.  If  we  consider  the 
fact  that  in  adults  the  lashes  can  be  touched  without 
even  an  inclination  to  close  the  lid,  but  not  so  the  con- 
junctiva or  the  edge  of  the  cornea,  we  can  not  agree  with 
Kussmaul  in  this  case.  I  find  also  in  new-born  Guinea- 
pigs  and  in  chickens  just  out  of  the  shell  the  periphery 
of  the  cornea  more  sensitive  to  contact  than  the  lashes 
or  the  lids  and  their  edges.  In  all  three  cases,  however, 
closing  of  the  lid  appears  soon  after  birth,  most  quickly 
of  all  upon  the  touching  of  the  cornea. 

Blowing  in  the  face  of  new-born  children  through  a 
tube  also  causes  closing  of  the  lid,  but  only  when  the 
cornea  or  the  conjunctiva  or  the  lashes  are  reached  by 
the  air,  and  the  eye  of  the  side  that  is  blown  upon  is 
shut  tighter  and  more  quickly  than  the  other. 

From  my  experiments  upon  new-born,  normal 
chickens  and  Guinea-pigs,  it  appears  that  the  closing  of 


FEELING.  103 

the  lid  does  not  follow  quite  so  promptly  immediately 
after  birth  as  it  does  later.  Still,  the  interval  during 
which  the  inactivity  of  the  reflex  can  be  recognized, 
without  arrangements  for  measuring  the  time,  is  very 
short,  since  with  chickens,  e.  g.,  only  a  few  hours  after 
leaving  the  shell,  the  nictitating  membrane  is  pushed 
forward  when  I  touch  the  corner  of  the  eye. 

In  a  babe  of  eight  days  the  eye  shuts,  when  I  touch 
the  upper  lid  without  touching  the  lashes  ;  but  in  one  of 
eleven  days  the  closing  of  the  lid  upon  the  touching  of 
the  conjunctiva  is  considerably  slower  than  in  adults 
(p.  20). 

On  the  fiftieth  and  fifty-fifth  days  the  lightest  touch 
of  an  eyelash  produces  an  instant  closing  of  the  lid.  In 
contrast  with  this  sensitiveness  stands  the  fact  already 
mentioned  (p.  27),  that  the  child  in  the  bath,  during  the 
first  weeks  of  life,  keeps  its  eyes  open  even  when  luke- 
warm water  touches  the  cornea.  In  the  seventeenth 
week  the  eyes  were  closed  if  even  a  drop  of  water 
touched  the  lashes.  The  persistent  keeping  of  the  eyes 
open  in  spite  of  wetting,  at  a  considerably  earlier  period, 
which  always  surprised  me  afresh,  considering  the  great 
sensitiveness  of  the  cornea  to  the  touch  of  the  finger, 
suggests  the  surmise  that  even  before  birth  the  eyes 
have  been  accustomed  to  contact  with  liquid,  through 
being  sprinkled  with  the  amniotic  fluid,  and  so  have 
sometimes  been  opened.  The  embryo  chick  occasion- 
ally opens  its  eyes  many  days  before  leaving  the  shell, 
as  I  perceived. 

On  the  whole,  it  appears  that  this  reflex  arc  from 
the  trigeminus  to  the  facialis  is  capable  of  performing 
its  function  before  birth,  inasmuch  as  the  reflex  closing 


104  THE   MIND   OF   THE   CHILD. 

of  the  eye  upon  being  touched  takes  place  immediately 
at  birth  even  in  animals  born  prematurely,  and  is  thus 
an  ancient  inheritance ;  but  sprinkling  with  water,  as 
in  the  case  of  the  adult,  is  not  equal,  as  a  reflex  stimulus, 
to  a  dry  touch ;  on  the  other  hand,  blowing  induces  a 
vigorous  closing  of  the  lid,  and  even  sneezing,  in  the 
very,  young  infant  as  well  as  in  the  one  of  six 
months. 

Nose. — When  the  tip  of  the  nose  is  touched,  the 
new-born  child  shuts  both  eyes  tight ;  if  one  wing  of 
the  nose  is  touched  he  closes,  generally,  only  the  eye  on 
the  side  touched  ;  at  a  stronger  irritation  both  eyes  are 
shut,  the  head  being  meanwhile  somewhat  drawn  back : 
these  being  inborn  reflexes  of  the  nature  of  defense. 

Palm  of  the  Hand. — Put  a  finger  into  the  hand  of 
a  new-born  babe,  and  his  hand  closes  around  it.  A  fillip 
of  the  finger  against  the  hand  produces  a  withdrawal  of 
the  latter,  and  very  likely  a  movement  of  the  other  arm. 
But  I  find  the  sensibility  of  the  palm  of  the  hand  to  be 
less  than  that  of  the  skin  of  the  face,  for  rude  touches 
of  the  hand  may  often  fail  to  call  forth  reflex  move- 
ments. 

Sole  of  the  Foot. — Touching  the  sole  of  the  foot  of 
a  new-born  child  causes  spreading  of  the  toes ;  slapping 
the  sole  causes  a  backward  bending  of  the  foot,  a  bend- 
ing of  the  knee  and  of  the  hip  joint.  If  the  stimulus 
be  greater,  the  same  movements  are  generally  made  in 
addition,  in  the  same  order,  with  the  other  leg.  The 
prick  of  a  needle  most  easily  causes,  in  the  newly-born, 
reflex  movements  of  pain,  from  the  sole  of  the  foot  out- 
ward, viz.,  restlessness  and  screaming,  but  the  time 
that  elapses  between  the  first  touch  and  the  beginning 


FEELING.  105 

of  the  movement — the  reflex"  period — is  longer  than  in 
adults,  and  extends  to  two  seconds. 

The  shin  of  the  forearm  and  of  the  leg,  in  the  new- 
ly-born, has  an  inferior  sensibility  to  contact ;  that  of  the 
shoulders,  the  breast,  the  abdomen,  the  back,  the  upper 
part  of  the  thigh,  is  less  sensitive  still.  If  the  new-born 
child  is  not  merely  touched,  but  slapped  with  the  hand, 
then  general  movements  take  place,  often  screaming  and 
persistent  restlessness,  which  indicate  that  the  stronger 
sensation  of  touch  has  become  painful.  Yet,  according 
to  Genzmer,  the  prematurely  born  do  not  react  at  all 
upon  moderate  pricks  of  a  needle,  during  the  first  days  ; 
the  mature  newly-born,  immediately  after  birth,  do  so 
indeed  only  faintly  or  not  at  all,  but  after  one  or  two 
days  they  do  so  plainly.  This  shows  the  dependence 
of  the  force  of  the  stimulus  upon  the  number  of  the 
nerve-extremities  that  are  affected.  The  slap  reaches 
many,  the  prick  few  extremities  of  the  cutaneous  nerves. 
But  the  sensibility  to  pricks  of  the  needle,  which  is 
greater  from  the  beginning  in  those  born  too  late,  in- 
creases noticeably  during  the  first  week. 

I  found  in  the  case  of  my  boy  that  the  sensibility  of 
the  skin  in  different  places  was  not  so  unequal  in  the 
first  twenty-two  hours  as  it  was  later,  but  it  was  surpris- 
ingly great ;  for  the  child  reacted  by  movements  upon 
the  slightest  touches  of  his  face.  On  the  second  and 
third  days,  for  instance,  he  started  with  a  movement  of 
the  arms  at  gentle  touches.  On  the  seventh  day  the 
child  is  not  waked  by  loud  sound-stimulus,  but  is  waked 
by  a  touch  on  the  face.  On  the  forty-first  day,  when 
the  child  had  gone  to  sleep  in  my  arms,  I  laid  him  on 
a  sheet  and  then  drewr  the  sheet  slowly  away.     At  the 


106  THE   MIND   OF   THE   CHILD. 

first  pull,  both  arms  wore  moved  quickly  and  simulta- 
neously toward  the  head  and  back  again,  without  the 
child's  waking.  Here  we  have  not  a  localized  touch,  but 
a  general  slight  agitation,  calling  forth  the  same  reflex 
movement  as  a  touch  or  a  sound  would  do.  In  the 
fourteenth  week,  too,  a  sudden  touch  of  the  sleeping 
child  occasioned  a  quick  throwing  up  of  both  arms. 

According  to  this,  the  reflex  excitability  for  local  tac- 
tile stimulus  is  undoubtedly  greater  in  the  first  weeks 
than  it  is  later.  In  the  second  year  of  life  I  found  it  a 
good  deal  dulled. 

I  may  mention  here  also  two  remarkably  sensitive  re- 
gions in  the  skin  of  the  infant.  In  the  second  quarter 
of  the  first  year  it  appeared  that  the  greatest  disquiet, 
the  loudest  crying,  the  most  distressed  expression  of 
countenance,  as  the  child  was  turning  and  tossing  hither 
and  thither,  at  once  vanished  when  a  person  put  his 
little  finger  into  the  auditory  canal.  The  child's  eye 
assumed  a  peculiar  expression  of  strained  attention.  If 
this  sudden  alteration  had  not  invariably  taken  place 
even  when  the  child  was  screaming,  one  might  think 
rather  of  an  acoustic  than  of  a  tactile  excitation.  <  )r, 
could  the  diminution  of  the  loudness  of  his  cries 
through  the  stopping  of  the  ear  attract  his  attention  ? 
In  that  case  we  can  not  understand  why  the  child  that 
is  not  crying  but  is  quivering  in  the  bath  becomes  quiet. 
For  the  rest,  the  experiment  failed  almost  invariably 
after  the  end  of  the  first  six  months ;  from  that  time  on 
it  always  failed,  and  Kroner  found  that  not  all  new- 
born children  were  quiet  when  the  external  auditory 
canal  was  tickled,  but  that  some  put  their  hands  to  the 
face  and  not  to  the  ear. 


FEELING.  107 

How  sensitive  the  dry  skin  of  the  forehead  is  to 
wet,  is  often  shown  by  the  reflex  movements  of  babes  at 
church-baptism.  I  once  saw  an  infant  of  thirty-eight 
days,  which  remained  tolerably  quiet  through  the  whole 
baptismal  ceremony,  make  a  sudden  movement  of  both 
arms  at  once  toward  the  head,  without  screaming,  as 
soon  as  the  lukewarm  water  trickled  on  its  forehead. 
At  the  second  wetting,  directly  afterward,  there  was  a 
similar  convulsive  movement  almost  as  of  repulsion; 
and  at  the  third,  the  child  sneezed.  According  to  this, 
the  reflex  excitability  of  the  surface  of  the  face  in  re- 
gard to  wet  is  greater  in  the  sixth  week  than  it  is  in 
adult  age.  The  adult  can  not  be  stirred  to  so  vigorous 
reflex  action  by  such  a  wetting  as  this  of  the  christen- 
ing with  a  few  drops  of  water,  although  he  may  be  by 
sprinkling. 

Yet  it  seems  difficult  to  determine  the  exact  time 
when  the  great  reflex  excitability  to  contact  manifested 
by  the  above  facts,  has  so  far  subsided  that  a  degree  of 
excitability  corresponding  to  the  normal  condition  of 
adults  is  reached. 

Apart  from  hereditary  individual  inequalities,  and 
the  frequent  morbid  development  of  the  reflexes  in 
early  infancy  into  convulsions,  the  time  when  the  re- 
flexes begin  to  be  inhibited  is  of  the  greatest  account, 
no  less  than  is  the  wearing  out  of  the  nerve-paths  by 
frequent  repetition  of  the  excitements,  in  regard  to  the 
ultimate  decline  of  the  sensibility  to  touch.  In  the 
very  earliest  period,  and  before  birth,  the  nerve-paths 
are  not  yet  so  easily  passable  as  after  repeated  reflex  ex- 
citation ;  hence  the  longer  time  occupied  in  the  reflex. 
It  appears  from  numerous  experiments  of  mine  upon 


108  THE   MIND   OF   THE   CHILD. 

unborn  animals,  and  of  Soltmann  upon  new-born  and 
very  young  ones,  that  the  sensibility  of  the  nerves  of  the 
skin,  estimated  by  the  ease  with  which  the  reflexes  take 
place  upon  slight  stimulus,  is  continually  on  the  increase, 
up  to  a  certain  point  of  time  that  may  be  designated  as 
the  beginning  of  inhibition  of  the  reflex.  But  it  is  to  be 
observed  here  that,  while  the  central  paths  are  traversed 
more  and  more  easily  through  frequent  use  of  them 
(and  more  rapidly,  up  to  a  certain  limit),  the  peripheral 
extremities  of  the  cutaneous  nerves  must  be  dulled 
through  the  inevitable  stimulus  of  contact  of  wet  and 
of  cold,  soon  after  the  reflex  activity  has  attained  its 
maximum.  For  the  permanent  excitations  of  the  skin 
of  the  infant  must  diminish  the  excitability  of  the 
nerves  of  the  skin.  What  is  gained,  therefore,  in  cen- 
tral excitability  (cranial  and  spinal  activity  and  excita- 
bility) is  lost  in  peripheral,  and  it  is  very  probable  that 
the  reason  of  the  slighter  sensibility  to  pain  in  the  newly- 
born  is  of  a  central  character,  because  in  the  long  repose 
before  birth  the  extremities  of  the  cutaneous  nerves  may 
have  become  very  excitable  while  the  brain  was  not  yet 
active. 

2.  The  First  Perceptions  of  Touch. 

From  sensibility  to  contact  it  is  a  great  step  to  the 
perception  of  touch.  To  the  original  consciousness  be- 
longing to  sensation  is  added  the  experience  of  succes- 
sion, and  with  that  the  consciousness  of  time ;  then  the 
simultaneousness  of  the  sensations  of  contact,  and  with 
this  the  consciousness  of  space ;  finally,  the  conscious- 
ness of  the  causal  connection  of  two  or  more  contacts 
that  have  come  to  consciousness  in  time  and  space,  and 
with  this  the  idea  of  the  body  touched. 


FEELING.  109 

If  the  new-born  child  is  slapped,  it  has  a  sensation, 
for  it  cries  out ;  but  it  knows  nothing  of  the  place  where 
it  is  struck,  and  nothing  of  the  cause  of  the  blow.  If 
it  is  struck  again  after  an  interval,  then  there  is  the  pos- 
sibility of  a  recollection,  and  so  of  a  distinction  of  time. 
If  the  blow  falLs  frequently  upon  different  parts  of  the 
skin  in  like  fashion,  then  distinctions  of  space  will  also 
come  gradually  into  the  child's  consciousness  besides 
the  mere  sensations  of  pain,  since  different  extremities 
of  the  skin,  different  nerve-fibers,  are  each  time  excited 
by  the  blow.  If  the  blow  is  renewed  with  intervals  of 
freedom  from  pain,  then  the  hand  that  strikes  will 
gradually,  only  after  considerable  time,  to  be  sure,  be 
pushed  away  or  avoided  as  the  cause  of  the  pain.  If 
the  sensation  of  contact  is,  on  the  contrary,  pleasurable, 
then  it  will  be  desired.  In  both  cases  movements  must 
be  executed,  and  these  lead  again  to  new  sensations  of 
contact,  which  may  be  even  more  important  in  the  gene- 
sis of  mind. 

Thus,  the  sensation  of  touch  in  the  tips  of  the  fingers,"^ 
upon  the  first  successful  attempts  at  seizing,  must  as- 
suredly be  very  interesting  to  the  child,  otherwise  he 
would  not,  after  grasping  at  and  getting  hold  of  an  ob- 
ject, observe  his  own  fingers  persistently  and  attentively 
even  when  (in  the  twenty-third  week)  one  hand  acci- 
dentally gets  hold  of  the  other  in  moving  the  hands 
about.  Here  the  discrimination  between  the  mutual 
contact  of  two  points  of  the  skin  of  his  own  body  and 
the  contact  of  one  point  of  the  skin  with  a  foreign  ob- 
ject is  undoubtedly  a  great  step  toward  the  cognition  of 
the  self  (des  Ich). 

The  earliest  association,  in  time,  of  one  sensation  of 


HO  THE   MIND   OF   THE   CHILD. 

contact  with  another,  is  probably  that  which  is  given  in 
the  act  of  nursing.  When  the  nipple  comes  between 
the  lips,  there  follows  upon  this  sensation  of  touch  the 
sensation  of  wTet  (the  milk)  in  the  mouth  (to  which  the 
new  sensation  of  sweetness  also  joins  itself).  Herein  is 
given  the  first  perception  of  touch.  The  newly-born 
makes  one  of  his  first  experiences,  namely,  this,  that  upon 
a  certain  contact  of  the  lips  follows  a  different,  an  agree- 
able sensation  in  the  mouth.  Hence  the  contact  with 
the  lips  is  desired.  Every  similar  soft  touch  of  the  lips 
is  therefore  agreeable.  But  how  far  from  being  firm 
the  association  of  the  space-element  with  the  time-ele- 
ment is,  appears  in  this,  that  the  newly-born  sometimes, 
as  I  observed,  after  "  trying "  at  the  breast,  take  the 
skin  of  the  breast  near  the  nipple  into  the  mouth  and 
suck  at  it  a  long  time.  And  how  late  in  being  estab- 
lished is  the  causal  connection  between  the  lip-contact 
w7ith  the  nipple  and  the  sensation  of  liquid  sweetness  in 
the  mouth  when  nursing,  is  manifest  from  the  fact  that 
the  infant  keeps  up  for  many  months  the  habit  of  suck- 
ing his  own  fingers  and  foreign  objects. 

From  this  it  appears,  at  the  same  time,  how  much 
more  easily  and  more  strongly  the  time-succession  of  two 
sensations  impresses  itself  than  does  the  connection  in 
space  or  the  causal  connection.  For  the  first  act  of  suck- 
ing, after  the  first  contact  of  the  lips,  brings  countless 
other  sucking  movements  in  its  train.  Because  it  in- 
duced an  agreeable  sensation  (of  sweetness),  it  remains 
in  the  memory.  The  first  causal  connection  of  the  lip- 
contact  with  the  nipple,  localized  in  space,  with  the 
sweet  taste  of  milk,  occurs  not  only  later  and  so  with 
more  difficulty,  but  also  is  more  easily  forgotten.     Else, 


FEELING.  HI 

after  seeing  that  the  desired  sensation  of  sweetness  and 
the  flow  of  the  milk  occur  only  on  sucking  at  the  well- 
distinguished  breast  or  the  nursing-bottle,  the  child 
would  not  keep  up  so  long  the  useless  sucking  at  every 
object,  capable  of  being  sucked,  that  is  brought  to  the 
mouth  (even  the  lingers)  when  the  feeling  of  hunger  be- 
gins. However  agreeable  to  the  child  the  sucking  at 
the  fingers  may  be,  his  hunger  is  not  lessened  by  it,  and 
the  sweet  taste  is  not  induced.  Yet  he  sucks  away  ob- 
stinately, as  if  he  thought  the  milk  might  be  drawn  from 
the  lingers  too.  The  fact  that  the  milk  in  the  breast  is 
not  visible  may  help  to  keep  up  the  physiological  error, 
and  it  would  be  worth  while  to  investigate  whether  in- 
fants that  take  milk  exclusively  from  the  breast  of  the 
mother  continue  the  useless  sucking  of  all  sorts  of  ob- 
jects longer  than  do  those  who  draw  their  milk  exclu- 
sively from  transparent  bottles. 

The  habit  of  useless  sucking  seems  the  more  strange, 
as  the  infant  shows  very  early  a  sort  of  activity  of  un- 
derstanding in  this  field  ;  shows  it  by  unambiguous 
movements,  viz.,  by  opening  wide  the  eyes  at  sight  of 
the  mother's  breast. 

3.  Sensibility  to  Temperature. 

Concerning  sensibility  to  differences  of  temperature 
the  observations  are  few. 

Whether  the  sudden  cooling  of  the  child  immediately 
after  birth,  which  may  amount  to  several  degrees,  occa- 
sions a  sensation  of  cold,  is  a  question  with  regard  to 
mature  newly-born  children,  as  well  as  the  prematurely 
born,  even  in  the  cases  where  they  shiver.  For  although 
an  unpleasant  feeling  is  certainly  associated  with  the  with- 


112  THE   MIND   OF   THE   CHILD. 

drawal  of  warmth,  yet  in  this  particular  case  the  possi- 
bility is  lacking  of  com/paring  temperatures.  Within  the 
womb  the  constant,  unfelt  temperature  of  the  foetus  is 
somewhat  higher  than  that  of  the  mother.  From  the 
first  instant  of  complete  birth  there  begins  a  general 
and  probably  a  pretty  uniform  cooling,  because  the  air 
that  surrounds  the  just-born  child  has  only  one  tempera- 
ture, and  the  child  is  wet  all  over  the  surface  of  its  body, 
and  so  the  evaporation  must  cool  off  the  whole  of  the 
skin.  Now,  the  great  difference  in  the  temperature  of 
the  skin,  before  and  after  birth,  will  be  perceptible,  in 
part  indirectly,  through  contraction  of  the  vessels,  and 
in  part  directly,  through  peripheral  excitation  of  the 
nerves,  but  at  first  only  as  an  unpleasant  feeling.  As 
soon  as  the  wTarin  bath,  into  which  the  newly-born  is 
usually  dipped,  brings  back  the  skin  nearly  to  the  tem- 
perature that  has  been  kept  constant  for  months  within 
the  womb,  the  excitement  (which  had  never  before  ex- 
isted) of  the  nerves  susceptible  to  temperature  subsides, 
the  contraction  of  the  capillaries  of  the  skin  ceases,  the 
feeling  of  discomfort  passes  away,  and  the  first  agree- 
able sensation  of  comfortable  warmth  is  given  ;  in  gen- 
eral, the  first  agreeable  sensation  since  birth,  for  most 
children.  It  is  agreeable,  through  the  contrast  with  the 
refrigeration,  as  the  altered  physiognomy  of  the  newly- 
born  in  a  bath  of  30°  C.  shows,  in  comparison  with  that 
of  the  still  wet,  shivering,'  screaming,  just-born  babe,  to 
whose  head  the  vernix  still  adheres.  Besides,  I  sawT — 
at  the  second  bath — that  the  dry  fingers  wrere  spread 
out,  a  thing  that  could  not  be  caused  by  the  moisture. 
As  early  as  the  seventh  day  the  expression  of  pleasure 
in  the  wTidely-opened  eyes,  immediately  after  the  bath, 


FEELING.  H3 

was  different.  No  sensuous  impression  of  any  kind  is 
capable  of  calling  forth  such  an  expression  of  satisfac- 
tion, at  this  period,  in  the  infants  observed  by  me. 
Still,  in  addition  to  the  sensation  of  warmth,  there  is  the 
freedom  from  swaddling-clothes  which  are  often  asso- 
ciated with  a  disagreeable  irritation  of  the  skin. 

In  any  case,  the  feeling  of  warmth  and  the  feeling 
of  cold  are  plainly  manifest  after  the  first  bath,  neither 
of  these  having  been  distinguished  as  such  before  birth, 
or  probably  directly  after  birth. 

It  is  likely,  also,  that  the  powerful  effect  of  a  sud- 
den general  refrigeration  upon  the  nerves  of  the  skin, 
through  the  dipping  of  the  just-born  babe  into  ice-cold 
water,  which  has  been  made  use  of  with  the  greatest 
success  in  restoring  to  life  children  apparently  still-born, 
is  attended  with  discomfort,  even  where  the  danger  of 
strangling  has  been  obviated.  If  the  breathing  has  be- 
gun, this  very  strong  stimulus  produces  a  remarkable 
effect,  the  low  whimpering  being  changed  to  a  loud  out- 
cry. This  cry  is  the  same  as  that  which  follows  upon 
a  vigorous  (painful)  slap.  From  my  experiences  with 
newly-born  animals,  which  cry  out  lustily  on  the  appli- 
cation of  electricity  to  the  skin,  and  at  other  kinds  of 
strong  cutaneous  stimulus,  I  can  but  regard  this  out- 
cry as  an  utterance  of  pain  ;  but  it  does  not  follow  that 
the  cooling  of  the  child  just  born  produces  a  sensation 
of  cold.  This  can  only  come,  as  has  been  said,  through 
contrast,  where  the  possibility  of  comparison  exists ; 
therefore,  after  the  first  warm  bath.  The  first  cooling 
produces  merely  an  unpleasant  feeling. 

We  have  but  few  experiences  also  with  regard  to 
local  warming  and  cooling. 


114  THE   MIND   OF   THE   CHILD. 

About  twenty  children  were  tested  by  Genzmer, 
who  touched  different  parts  of  the  surface  of  the  skin 
with  an  ice-cold  iron  rod,  and  saw  lively  reflex  move- 
ments invariably  appear.  But,  as  the  stimulus  of  touch 
was  not  excluded  in  this  case,  his  further  experiments 
of  wetting  and  then  blowing  on  the  skin  in  special  places 
are  of  rather  more  account.  This  sort  of  stimulus,  ap- 
plied to  the  sole  of  the  foot,  produced  withdrawal  of  the 
foot ;  applied  to  the  hollow  of  the  hand,  it  produced 
closing,  then  withdrawal  of  the  hand.  When  the  cheek 
was  cooled  the  head  was  turned  to  one  side.  Unfor- 
tunately, nothing  is  said  of  the  age  of  the  children.  In 
such  cases  the  age  should  be  reckoned  by  hours,  and 
when  new  experiments  are  instituted,  the  blowing, 
which  of  itself  acts  as  a  reflex  stimulus,  is  to  be  avoided  ; 
and,  above  all,  the  previous  temperature  of  the  skin 
ought  to  be  determined.  Little  children  very  often 
have  cold  hands  and  feet  without  making  any  complaint. 
Possibly  this  in  itself  causes  less  reflex  sensibility  to  the 
stimulus  of  cold  and  greater  to  the  stimulus  of  warmth. 

It  is  known  that  even  quite  young  infants  become 
restless  and  cry  readily  when  they  are  wet  anywhere 
with  cold  water.  This  dislike  of  the  local  withdrawal 
of  warmth  persists,  during  the  first  years  of  life,  until 
at  length  the  knowledge  that  a  washing  with  cold  water 
is  refreshing  overcomes  the  fear  of  cold  (in  the  third 
year). 

Moreover,  how  sensitive  individual  children  are, 
in  perfectly  sound  health,  in  regard  to  the  discrimina- 
tion of  cold  and  warmth,  was  evident  to  me  in  the  ex- 
periment of  ordering  the  daily  bath  to  be  made  colder 
gradually.     The  water  could  be  cooled  to  32A°  C.  with- 


FEELING.  1 1 5 

out  lessening  the  child's  pleasure.  But  every  time  the 
water  was  reduced  to  the  neighborhood  of  31£°  C.  or 
less,  the  child  screamed  uninterruptedly  until  warmer 
water  was  added.  The  temperature  of  the  skin,  there- 
fore, was  presumably  very  near  32°  C.  But  when  the 
child  was  two  and  a  half  years  old,  he  laughed  and  ut- 
tered joyous  sounds  in  water  of  the  temperature  of  the 
room — in  a  cold  bath,  therefore,  such  as  formerly  made 
him  cry ;  and  in  his  fourth  year  he  objected  to  taking 
a  warm  bath  3G°  C.  In  the  seventh  month  he  became 
pale,  always,  at  being  put  into  water  from  31°  to  35°  C, 
but  regained  his  ordinary  color  within  one  or  two  min- 
utes. The  case  here  is  not  one  of  direct  contraction  of 
the  capillaries  of  the  skin  through  sudden  withdrawal 
of  warmth,  but  is  a  case  of  vaso-motor  reflex  action, 
because  it  was  precisely  the  skin  of  the  face,  which  was 
not  dipped  in  the  water,  that  became  most  pale,  and 
this  happened  as  late  as  the  age  of  more  than  two  years. 
The  sensibility  of  the  mucous  membrane  of  the 
mouth,  of  the  tongue,  of  the  lips,  to  cold  and  warmth 
is  also  surprisingly  great  in  many  infants  during  the 
first  days.  If  the  nursing-bottle  is  but  a  little  more 
than  blood- warm,  it  is  refused,  often  with  violent  scream- 
ing ;  and  if  it  is  some  degrees  colder  than  the  milk  sucked 
from  the  breast  of  the  mother,  it  is  refused  likewise. 
Therefore,  in  experiments  designed  to  test  the  gusta- 
tory sensibility  in  new-born  children,  the  liquids  em- 
ployed must  have  the  exact  temperature  of  37°  C.  Yet 
infants  learn  easily  to  drink  water  and  milk  of  the  tem- 
perature of  the  room  they  live  in,  if  their  drink  is  given 
to  them,  when  they  are  hungry,  only  at  this  tempera- 
ture. 


116  THE  MIND  OF  THE  CHILD. 

The  sensibility  of  the  lips  to  differences  of  tempera- 
ture in  liquids  is  in  any  case  determined  by  the  con- 
stant temperature  of  the  amniotic  fluid  before  birth, 
and  of  the  mother's  milk  after  birth. 

The  difference  in  the  neutral  point  of  temperature 
between  the  mucous  membrane  of  the  mouth  (tongue), 
and  of  the  skin  (e.  g.,  the  hand)  which  in  the  adult 
amounts  to  5°  or  6°  C.  (whereas  before  birth  it  is  zero), 
can  in  general  hardly  establish  itself  in  the  first  days  of 
life.  The  tongue  and  the  mucous  membrane  of  the 
mouth  maintain  through  life  almost  the  same  neutral 
point  they  had  before  birth  ;  whereas  the  external  skin 
only  gradually  gets  its  varying  neutral  points  through 
unequal  refrigeration. 


CHAPTER    IV. 

TASTE. 

The  observations  concerning  the  sense  of  taste  re- 
late chiefly  to  the  question  whether  the  newly-born 
have  a  sensibility  to  taste  such  as  makes  possible  at 
once  the  distinction  between  different  savors.  Next 
comes  the  comparison  of  gustatory  impressions  already 
recognized  as  different.  Then  followT  some  statements 
as  to  taste  in  newly-born  animals. 

1.  Sensibility  to  Taste  in  the  Newly-born. 

We  know,  from  mimetic  reflex  movements  of  the 

same  sort  as  those  of  adults,  that  the  newly-born,  and 

even  those  born  a  month  or  two  before  their  time,  react 

upon  substances  that  have  a  taste,  when  these  are  intro- 


TASTE.  117 

duced  into  the  mouth  by  means  of  a  pencil.  Kussmaul 
tested  the  sense  of  taste  in  this  way  in  more  than  twen- 
tv  newly- born  children,  making  use  of  cane-sugar,  qui- 
nine, common  salt,  and  tartaric  acid.  Genzmer  repeat- 
ed these  experiments  with  twenty-tive  children,  most  of 
whom  he  observed  immediately  after  birth  and  from  three 
to  six  days  after,  some  up  to  the  sixth  week.  Kussmaul 
found  that  the  salt,  the  quinine,  and  the  acid  occasioned 
grimaces  as  an  expression  of  dislike,  but  with  much 
variation  in  the  manifestation  in  individual  cases.  The 
sugar,  on  the  other  hand,  produced  movements  of  suck- 
ing. The  liquids  to  be  tested  were  all  warmed,  so  that 
the  reaction  upon  them  can  not  be  ascribed  to  a  feeling 
of  cold  in  the  mouth. 

As  the  acid,  however,  acted  on  the  mucous  mem- 
brane, it  might  cause  pain  in  addition  to  the  sour  taste  ; 
yet  the  children  did  not  cry  out,  and  after  the  edges  of 
the  tongue  were  touched  with  a  crystal  of  tartaric  acid, 
the  grimaces  appeared  instantaneously  in  two  new-born 
children,  while  the  crystal  placed  in  the  center  of  the 
upper  surface  of  the  tongue  caused  no  change  in  the 
countenance,  for  a  considerable  time,  until  the  acid  was 
sufficiently  dissolved  to  reach  the  edges  of  the  tongue 
that  were  sensitive  to  it.  So  that  it  is  the  sour  taste, 
and  not  an  incidental  painful  effect  of  the  acid,  that 
elicits  the  "sour"  look.  The  suspicion  that  the  latter 
is  generated  only  by  excitation  of  the  nerves  of  taste 
through  the  acid,  is  not  pertinent ;  accordingly,  we  have 
here  a  certain  ability  to  distinguish  sensations  of  taste, 
active  directly  after  birth,  before  anything  has  been 
swallowed  except  the  amniotic  fluid  swallowed  before 
birth. 

10 


118  THE   MIND   OF   THE   CHILD. 

The  psychogenetic  importance  of  this  fact  demands 
a  more  detailed  examination  of  the  observations  on 
which  it  rests. 

Kussmaul  found  that  the  newly-born  sometimes  re- 
spond to  the  taste  of  sugar  with  the  mimetic  expression 
for  bitter.  It  might  thus  be  thought  that  the  sensations 
were  not  distinguished,  but  were  responded  to  irregu- 
larly, now  with  one,  now  with  another,  reflex  move- 
ment. But  the  circumstances  under  which  the  reflex 
takes  place  are  not  irregular.  "  Some  made  a  wry  face 
at  the  first  introduction  of  the  solution  of  sugar,  while 
they  took  in  the  rest  of  it  with  satisfaction.  It  was 
not  the  sensation  of  taste  in  itself  apparently  that  was 
in  fault,  but  another  psychical  experience,  the  surprise 
caused  by  the  sudden  effect  on  the  sensitive  nerves. 
One  of  the  children  even  started  directly  with  fright, 
when  it  came  so  suddenly  to  taste  the  unfamiliar  liquid 
(which  was  warmed).  Children  that  had  reacted  strong- 
ly upon  quinine,  commonly  made  a  grimace  again,  or 
several  times  in  succession,  when  a  solution  of  sugar 
was  introduced,  but  with  decreasing  animation,  until' 
finally  a  comfortable  sucking  and  swallowing  were  sub- 
stituted. This  accords  with  the  experiences  that  every 
adult  has  in  his  own  case,  viz.,  that  a  very  bitter  or 
nauseous  taste  does  not  allow  itself  to  be  at  once  sup- 
planted by  a  sweet  one,  but  at  every  fresh  stimulus  of 
the  gustatory  sense  by  substances  of  different  savors,  it 
recurs  with  decreasing  force." 

These  deductions  I  must  agree  with,  in  every  re- 
spect. I  saw  my  child,  the  first  day  of  his  life,  lick  off 
the  powdered  cane-sugar  that  was  put  on  the  nipple, 
whereas  he  licked  nothing  else;    so  the  sweet  alone 


TASTE.  119 

seemed  desirable.  On  the  second  day,  however,  he 
licked  at  the  mother's  milk  jnst  as  he  had  done  at  the 
sugar,  with  a  calm,  satisfied  expression  of  countenance. 
When  this  child  later  received  salted  food  and  food  of 
different  kinds,  the  first  thing  that  was  remarkable  at 
every  new  sensation  of  taste  was  the  expression  of  sur- 
prise ;  and,  as  late  as  the  second  quarter  of  his  second 
year  (nay,  occasionally  in  his  fourth  year),  he  would 
shudder,  shut  his  eyes  and  distort  his  face  in  the  strang- 
est fashion,  when  he  tasted  a  new  food  that  was  agree- 
able to  him  in  spite  of  his  grimaces  ;  for  he  often  wanted 
it  directly  afterward,  and  took  it  then  soon  with  the 
expression  of  satisfaction.  On  the  other  hand,  it  was 
often  easy  to  persuade  the  child,  after  he  had  learned  to 
speak  (as  a  hypnotized  adult  may  be  persuaded),  that  a 
sourish  or  generally  unattractive  food,  which  he  at  first 
refused,  was  very  pleasant  to  the  taste,  so  that  he  would 
then  want  more  of  it.  It  is  necessary  to  distinguish 
sharply  from  the  very  first,  on  the  one  hand,  the  ex- 
pression for  the  disagreeable  manifested  at  the  sudden 
new  sensation,  and  the  expression,  not  appearing  till 
after  this,  of  the  agreeable  that  is  excited  by  the  pleas- 
ant taste  ;  and  on  the  other  hand,  the  expression  for  the 
disagreeable  at  the  bitter,  the  salt,  or  the  sour  taste,  and 
that  for  the  agreeable  at  the  sweet  taste. 

It  is  certain,  from  all  observations,  that  the  newly- 
born  distinguish  the  sensations  of  taste  that  are  decid- 
edly different  from  one  another,  the  sweet,  sour,  and 
bitter. 

But  then  Genzmer  found  in  his  experiments  that 
individuals  newly-born  responded  to  an  attenuated  solu- 
tion (one  quarter  to  one  per  cent)  of  quinine,  and  one 


120  THE    MIND   OF   THE   CHILD. 

of  vinegar,  by  sucking  movements,  just  as  they  did  to 
a  solution  of  sugar.  In  one  case,  indeed,  a  child  on  the 
tirst  day,  as  also  in  the  sixth  week,  sucked  at  a  five-per- 
C3nt  solution  of  quinine  without  any  sign  of  dislike  (Kuss- 
maul's  solution  was  of  four  per  cent).  If  the  solution  was 
more  concentrated,  the  child  made  a  wry  face  of  com- 
plaint, as  the  others  were  wont  to  do  at  a  weaker  solu- 
tion (beyond  one  degree),  then  began  to  cry,  arid  made 
it  manifest  that  the  disagreeable  nature  of  the  taste  had 
become  perceptible  to  him. 

Inasmuch  as  it  has  been  established  that  there  are 
great  individual  differences  among  the  newly-born  in 
their  gustatory  sensibility,  and  that,  allowing  for  a  consid- 
erable blunting  of  this  through  experimenting,  there  was 
only  in  the  case  of  individuals  in  the  first  week  a  refine- 
ment of  taste  for  differences  in  intensity,  the  hypothesis 
is  forced  upon  us  that,  in  the  case  of  the  attenuated  solu- 
tions the  gustatory  sensations  of  many  children  were  too 
weak  to  be  found  either  agreeable  or  disagreeable  ;  that 
new-born  children  especially  are  not  yet  in  condition  to 
press  the  substance  to  be  tasted  against  the  hard  palate 
with  the  upper  surface  of  the  tongue,  whereby  the  dis- 
tribution to  the  end-organs  of  the  nerves  (these,  more- 
over, being  probably  less  numerous  in  the  little  tongue) 
is  favored  and  hastened.  In  the  case  of  these  attenu- 
ated solutions  there  remains,  then,  only  the  effect  upon 
the  sucking-mechanism,  as  in  the  case  of  touching  the 
tongue  with  the  finger.  There  is  no  need  of  the  addi- 
tional hypothesis  that  a  weak  bitter  or  sour  taste  is 
agreeable  to  individuals  among  the  newly-born,  in  order 
to  understand  that  the  reaction  upon  a  weak  bitter  or 
sour  is  not  accompanied  with  the  same  animated  reflex 


TASTE.  121 

movements  as  a  strong  stimulus  induces,  but  is  ac- 
companied with  sucking.  In  general,  the  newly-born 
make  a  wry  face  after  the  introduction  of  a  three  to 
five  per  cent  quinine  solution  ;  they  shut  the  eyes  tight, 
the  throat  is  convulsively  contracted,  the  mouth  is 
opened  wide,  and  the  liquid  is  ejected  along  with 
the  mucus  of  the  mouth,  which  is  generally  secreted 
very  scantily,  but  in  this  case  abundantly.  The  "  bit- 
ter "  expression  of  countenance  is  thus  quite  a  different 
one  from  the  "  sweet,"  even  on  the  first  day  of  life. 
But  it  is  different  also  from  the  "  sour,"  as  in  the  case 
of  adults,  since  in  the  movements  of  choking  the  cor- 
ners of  the  mouth  are  drawn  sharply  up  and  sidewise ; 
so  they  are,  according  to  Genzmer,  at  the  introduction 
of  pretty  strong  acetic  acid  (which  anv  way  is  unsuited 
to  such  experiments  on  account  of  its  smell).  The 
strongest  solutions  caused,  besides,  in  his  experiments, 
agitation  and  screaming  for  the  most  part ;  sugar,  on 
the  contrary,  is  tasted  with  satisfaction  by  all  newly- 
born  children,  when  it  acts  in  sufficient  quantity,  after 
the  first  surprise  is  over.    About  this  there  is  no  doubt. 

Since  very  sour  and  very  bitter  substances  call  forth 
in  the  newly-born  different  reflex  movements  under  cir- 
cumstances otherwise  similar,  and  very  sweet  substances 
call  forth  quite  different  movements  still,  therefore  these 
various  gustatory  qualities  are  distinguished. 

The  fact  that  weak  solutions  of  bitter  and  of  sour  are 
by  some  taken  in  much  the  same  way  as  weak  solutions 
of  sweet,  with  sucking  movements,  with  no  sign  of  dis- 
comfort, is  explained  by  the  slight  sensibility  of  the 
tongue  for  degrees  of  intensity.  The  sensations  of  con- 
tact caused  by  the  substances  to  be  tasted,  sensations 


122  THE  MIND  OF  THE  CHILD. 

which  of  themselves  start  sucking  movements,  over- 
power at  that  time  the  weak  sensations  of  taste.  But 
what  to  one  child  tastes  strong,  to  another  tastes  weak. 
For  many  children  one  per  cent  of  acetic  acid  was  too 
sour,  while  they  would  suck  away  at  a  two-per-cent  so- 
lution of  quinine ;  with  others  it  was  the  reverse.  This 
fact,  too,  is  in  accord  with  the  above  statement. 

The  association  of  certain  mimetic  contractions  of 
muscles  with  certain  sensations  of  taste  is  a  surprising- 
ly strong  one — it  is  inborn.  Children  born  about  two 
months  or  more  too  early  are  no  less  sensitive  to  the 
gustatory  stimuli  spoken  of  than  are  those  born  at  the 
right  time. 

Accordingly,  the  opinion,  often  expressed,  that  the 
new-born  infant  possesses  only  a  general  sensation  of 
taste,  and  that  the  qualitative  differences  of  taste  be- 
come perceptible  to  him  only  through  his  becoming  ac- 
customed to  them — this  opinion  falls  to  the  ground. 
Were  it  correct — did  every  moderate  stimulus  what- 
ever of  the  nerves  of  taste  cause  sucking  movements  as 
a  simple  reflex,  and  did  any  strong  stimulus  whatever, 
on  the  other  hand,  cause  choking,  likewise  as  a  simple 
reflex — then  the  most  intensely  sweet  taste  must  be  re- 
garded as  only  a  moderate  stimulus,  and  the  fact  before 
recognized  as  established  would  be  inexplicable,  that 
under  circumstances  alike  in  other  respects  the  mimetic 
expression  for  bitter  is  different  from  that  for  sweet  and 
from  that  for  sour,  when  the  corresponding  gustatory 
stimuli  are  strong  enough. 

Kussmaul's  inference  from  his  experiments  is  there- 
fore correct,  that  the  sense  of  taste  in  the  newly-born 
is  already  capable  of  acting  in  its  characteristic  forms  of 


TASTE.  123 

sensation ;  the  sensation  received  by  it  is  not  one  alto- 
gether undefined  and  vague. 

2.  Comparison  of  the  Gustatory  Impressions. 

The  sense  of  taste  seems  to  be  the  first  of  all  the 
senses  to  yield  clear  perceptions,  to  which  memory 
directly  attaches  itself,  as  Sigismund  rightly  pointed 
out.  The  gustatory  impression  of  the  milk  to  which  the 
child  is  accustomed  abides,  so  that  a  comparison  may 
be  made  with  strange  milk.  Of  this  ability  to  compare 
the  child  soon  makes  use,  for,  during  the  whole  nursing 
period  and  even  longer,  the  taste  of  sweet  is  preferred 
by  far  to  all  other  tastes,  and  these  others  are  experi- 
enced with  signs  of  disgust  when  they  are  strong,  and 
this  from  the  first  day  on. 

Burdach  is  wrong  in  affirming  that  not  till  the  end 
of  the  first  month  does  the  babe  begin  to  object  to 
medicines,  on  the  ground  that  then  first  is  the  child 
disagreeably  affected  by  astringent,  bitter,  salt,  sour 
tastes,  whereas  at  the  beginning  he  takes  every  liquid — ■ 
e.  g.,  camomile-tea  and  tincture  of  rhubarb,  just  as  will- 
ingly as  milk,  and  does  not  yet  manifest  choice.  If  the 
camomile-tea  and  the  tincture  of  rhubarb  are  sweetened, 
and  are  not  cold  or  hot,  he  takes  them  ^  but  liquids  that 
are  not  sweet,  or  that  have  a  strong  taste,  or  that  are 
cold  or  hot,  he  does  not  take  so  readily  as  he  does 
milk.  The  cavity  of  the  mouth  is,  even  for  the  newly- 
born,  something  more  than  a  mere  "  sucking-organ." 
Although  the  food  is  not  so  mixed  with  saliva,  by  mus- 
cular movement,  and  so  brought  into  contact  with  the 
mucous  membrane  of  the  mouth  as  it  is  later,  still  it  is 
tasted  and  especially  its  temperature  is  noticed. 


124  THE   MIND   OF   TIIE   CHILD. 

In  fact,  I  have  found  the  gustatory  sensitiveness  to- 
ward different  degrees  of  intensity  considerably  in- 
creased very  early.  Thus,  my  child  on  the  second  day 
took,  without  hesitation,  cow's  milk  diluted  with  water, 
which  on  the  fourth  day  he  stoutly  refused.  He  must 
have  compared  the  less  degree  of  sweetness  with  that  of 
his  mother's  milk.  But  an  extremely  small  quantity  of 
cane-sugar  sufficed  to  make  the  bottle  acceptable.  It 
only  needed  a  few  grains  applied  to  the  mouth  of  the 
bottle. 

Now,  as  bad-tasting  medicines  generally  have  some 
corrective,  especially  sugar,  added  to  them,  it  is  not  sur- 
prising that  infants  often  take  them  at  once  without 
discrimination.  I  have  repeatedly  convinced  myself 
that  this  is  the  case,  and  at  the  same  time  that  those 
medicines  tasted  sweet.  If  they  are  very  sweet — e.  g., 
one  hundred  parts  sugar  to  one  part  calomel — they  are 
taken  willingly,  even  by  the  child  of  six  months  and 
more ;  the  younger  child  does  not  need  so  great  an  ad- 
dition, precisely  because  it  does  not  discriminate  so 
nicely,  but  it  rejects  strong-tasting  substances  that  are 
offered  to  it  without  any  corrective. 

Every  new  taste  occasions  in  the  babe  of  more  than 
six  months  old  a  play  of  countenance  which  at  first  sug- 
gests surprise,  then  either  a  desire  for  more,  or  disgust. 
But  very  often  the  food  that  was  at  first  desired  is 
ejected  after  a  second  trial,  with  turning  away  of  the 
head :  and,  as  has  been  mentioned  (p.  119),  that  which 
at  first  caused  expressions  of  displeasure  is  directly  aft- 
erward desired.  Here  are  at  least  four  different  points 
to  be  noticed  :  1,  the  stimulus  of  the  new ;  2,  the  sensa- 
tion of  taste ;  3,  the  sensation  of  touch  and  of  tempera- 


TASTE.  125 

ture  in  the  mouth  ;  4,  the  sense  of  smell.  All  four  may 
act  in  harmony,  but  they  may  also  counteract  one  an- 
other so  that  the  child  does  not  know  whether  the  new 
thing  tastes  good  to  him  or  not,  etc.  Where  the  taste 
alone  varies  in  two  impressions  of  like  sort,  as  with  sweet 
and  salt,  the  child  of  six  months  can  discriminate  ac- 
curately at  once. 

How  far  the  comparison  of  the  gustatory  sensations 
discriminated  may  be  carried  after  the  weaning  of  a 
child  has  taken  place,  is  shown,  in  the  case  of  my  child 
and  some  others,  by  the  following  observations : 

From  the  one  hundred  fiftieth  day  on,  the  breast  was 
to  be  given  him  only  in  the  night.  But  after  five  nights 
the  child  refused  to  take  the  breast  as  hitherto,  prob- 
ably because  in  the  days  preceding  so  much  cane-sugar 
had  been  added  to  the  boiled  and  diluted  cow's  milk,  that 
it  tasted  somewhat  sweeter  than  milk  from  the  breast. 

At  the  end  of  the  twenty -third  week  the  child  had  a 
new  nurse,  whose  milk  it  took  eagerly.  Then  were 
taken,  apparently  with  equal  willingness,  this  milk  and 
diluted,  sweetened  cow's  milk,  as  well  as  meat-broth 
with  yolk  of  egg,  and  yolk  of  egg  beaten  up  in  cow's 
milk. 

From  the  one  hundred  and  eighty-fifth  day  on,  no 
more  nurse's  milk.  CowT's  milk  boiled  (one  part  water 
out  of  four  parts),  with  a  little  egg,  seems  to  relish. 
Water-gruel  with  yolk  of  egg  was  taken  once,  but  not 
again ;  leguminous  food  of  that  sort  is  refused  after  a 
single  trial. 

From  the  eighth  month  on,  the  child  was  fed  almost 
exclusively  for  months  on  Nestle' s  "prepared  food" 
(Kindermehl),  which  was  most  agreeable  to  him.     He 


126  TIIE   MIND   0F   TnE   CHILD. 

utters  a  cry  of  joy,  as  if  to  make  known  his  pleasure  at 
the  good  taste,  and  this  more  loudly  and  persistently 
than  over  any  food  thus  far  tried.  It  would  hardly  be 
possible  for  an  adult,  owing  to  the  sameness  of  the  taste, 
to  take  for  so  long  a  time  uninterruptedly,  several  times 
a  day,  nothing  but  this  prepared  food. 

9th  month. — With  great  surprise — at  the  new  taste — 
the  child  took  yolk  of  egg  mixed  with  cane-sugar.  He 
drinks  water  with  liking,  and  sucks  with  pleasure  at  a 
piece  of  white  bread.  But  in  this  the  sucking  doubt- 
less yields  more  pleasure  than  the  taste. 

11th  month. — The  child  takes,  without  pleasure, 
meat- broth  with  egg  that  has  a  slightly  salt  taste.  He 
rejects  obstinately  scalded  skimmed  milk  without  sugar, 
but  likes  dry  biscuit. 

lMh  month. — The  child  is  very  fastidious  (wiih- 
lerisch)  in  regard  to  the  taste  of  his  food ;  refuses  fari- 
naceous food  except  "  prepared  food "  and  biscuit. 
Everything  bitter  was  now,  and  for  the  two  years  fol- 
lowing, detested,  slightly  salt  food  no  longer  so. 

The  idiosyncrasy  of  antipathy  to  many  articles  of 
food  (even  in  the  fourth  and  fifth  years)  went  so  far 
that  even  the  sight  of  such  food  (e.  g.,  peas)  called  forth 
lively  demonstrations  of  disgust,  even  choking  move- 
ments, a  phenomenon  exhibited  by  many  children,  and 
one  that  leads  us  to  infer  a  largely  developed  capacity 
of  discrimination  in  taste  and  smell. 

As  to  the  practical  bearing  of  this,  I  hold,  as  a  fixed 
rule — however  much  it  may  be  at  variance  with  the 
prejudices  of  a  traditional  method  of  training — that  a 
young  child  should  in  no  case  be  constrained  to  eat  food 
that  is  distasteful  to  him.     I  can  see  no  advantage  what- 


TASTE.  127 

ever  to  the  child  from  such  severity,  but  it  may  very 
likely  have  an  injurious  effect  upon  the  nutrition  and 
the  development  of  character,  even  if  vomiting  does  not 
follow  soon  after  the  meal. 

The  refusal  of  the  little  child  to  eat  certain  kinds  of 
food  is  by  no  means — as  Heyfelder  thinks  it  is — naugh- 
tiness. The  babe  is  right  in  refusing  to  drink  sour  milk 
in  the  first  place ;  and  at  the  critical  period  of  weaning 
it  is  not  the  child  that  deserves  punishment  when  he  re- 
jects the  salted  food  or  food  hard  for  him  to  digest,  but 
the  nurse  that  forces  it  on  him  who  deserves  it.  Such 
constraint  first  develops  often  enough  an  antagonism  to 
some  dishes,  and  general  willfulness.  This  is  afterward 
vainly  contended  against  as  idiosyncrasy  or  naughtiness. 
But  let  the  child's  taste  in  the  beginning  have  free 
course — guarding  him  always  against  excess — and  he 
will  of  himself  become  accustomed  to  the  food  of  the 
family.  In  this  matter  it  should  not  escape  notice  that 
this  last  presupposes  a  certain  blunting  of  smell  as  well 
as  of  taste,  which  the  child  gains  only  in  the  course  of 
years. 

3.  Taste  in  Newly-born  Animals. 

In  newly-born  animals,  also,  whose  sense  of  taste  I 
tested,  there  is  certainly  a  decided  preference  for  sub- 
stances of  certain  particular  tastes,  along  with  indiffer- 
ence to  solutions  that  are  qualitatively  unlike  and  weak 
to  the  taste,  and  the  memory  of  tastes  is  developed  on 
the  first  day. 

Experiments  on  little  Guinea-pigs,  only  eight  to  six- 
teen hours  old,  and  separated  from  the  mother  after  two 
hours,  proved  to  me  absolutely  that  concentrated  water- 
solutions  of   tartaric   acid,  soda,  glycerine,  introduced 


128  THE   MIND   OF   THE   CHILD. 

into  the  mouth  through  glass  tubes,  are  swallowed  just 
as  greedily  or  eagerly  as  cow's  milk  and  water,  with 
vigorous  sucking.  But  then  the  empty  tube,  placed 
with  the  end  upon  the  tongue,  occasioned  just  such 
sucking.  The  experiments  conducted  in  this  manner 
can  not,  therefore,  yield  much  that  can  be  depended 
upon.  Touch,  as  a  reflex  stimulus  to  sucking  in  hungry 
new-born  creatures,  overpowers  any  taste-stimuli  acting 
at  the  same  time.  Newly-born  animals  that  have  eaten 
enough  do  not,  however,  suck  regularly  in  general. 

For  this  reason  another  criterion,  at  least  for  the 
recognition  of  an  agreeable  sensation  of  taste,  is  of  es- 
pecial value,  viz.,  licking.  This  must  be  regarded  as  a 
sure  sign  of  enjoyment  of  the  sweet  in  the  case  of  new- 
born human  beings  also — they  lick  persistently  sugar, 
but  not  crystals  of  tartaric  acid,  or  the  nipple-shell  that 
is  not  sugared. 

A  Guinea-pig,  not  yet  seventeen  hours  old,  was  placed 
by  me  in  a  glass  box  along  with  a  bit  of  oil  of  thyme, 
a  bit  of  camphor,  and  a  piece  of  sugar-candy.  The 
creature  ran  about,  stayed  longest  by  the  sugar,  gnawed 
at  a  corner  of  that,  and  thereupon  began  to  lick  the 
sugar  very  eagerly.  One  could  see  plainly  how  it 
stretched  forth  the  tongue  and  drew  it  along  the  smooth 
surface  of  the  crystal.  After  it  had  kept  up  this  opera- 
tion for  some  minutes,  apparently  with  great  satisfac- 
tion, I  removed  it,  bandaged  both  its  eyes,  and  repeated 
the  experiment  after  twenty-four  hours.  To  my  sur- 
prise the  animal  now  again  distinguished  the  sugar,  al- 
though it  had  not  touched  the  oil  of  thyme  and  the  cam- 
phor, and  although  it  could  not  see.  This  was  probably 
owing  to  the  smell.     The  glass  and  the  wood  were  not 


TASTE.  129 

licked,  but  the  sugar  was  licked  just  as  before,  and  just 
as  it  was  after  the  animal  was  again  allowed  the  use  of 
its  eyes.  I  have  not  seen  other  Guinea-pigs  manifest  on 
the  first  day  such  decision  in  taste.  But  the  one  in- 
stance proves  that  the  sensation  of  sweet  can  be  dis- 
criminated on  the  lirst  day,  can  be  desired  and  be  found 
agreeable. 

The  chick  just  out  of  the  shell  also  distinguishes  dif- 
ferent kinds  of  food  by  the  taste.  For  when  I  placed 
before  a  chick  boiled  white-of-egg,  boiled  yolk,  and 
millet,  it  pecked  at  all  three,  one  after  another,  as  it  did 
at  bits  of  egg-shell,  grains  of  sand,  spots  and  cracks  in 
the  wood  floor ;  but  only  at  the  yolk-of -egg  did  it  peck 
often  and  eagerly.  When  I  took  the  last  away,  and 
then,  an  hour  later  than  the  first  trial,  placed  it  again 
before  the  chick,  the  creature  ran  directly  to  it  and  took 
some  of  it,  whereas  at  the  first  trial  it  had  tasted  the 
white-of-egg  only  once,  and  had  swallowed  only  one 
grain  of  millet,  rejecting  the  rest  obstinately  afterward 
as  before.  This  preference  of  the  yolk-of-egg  rests  ac- 
cordingly upon  discrimination  and  taste-memory. 

New-born  animals,  therefore,  distinguish  qualities  of 
taste  without  having  had  any  other  gustatory  impres- 
sions than  those  of  the  amniotic  fluid  swallowed  in  the 

egg- 

This  remarkable  capacity  can  rest  only  on  inherited 
recollection — on  an  instinct  of  taste. 

Further  experiments  in  this  matter,  especially  upon 
newly-born  human  beings,  are  urgently  to  be  desired, 
in  order  to  ascertain  in  detail,  better  than  hitherto,  the 
gradual  increase  of  sensibility  according  to  the  diiferent 
degrees  of  concentration  (in  solution),  and  the  charac- 


130  TUE  MLVD  OF  THE  CHILD. 

teristic  reflexes  for  agreeable  and  disagreeable  sensations 
of  taste.  Only  chemically  pure,  odorless,  strong-tasting 
substances  should  be  used,  in  accurately  graded  quanti- 
ties, for  such  experiments ;  preferably  dissolved  in  luke- 
warm, distilled  water ;  for  sweet  tastes,  glycerine,  cane- 
sugar,  and  sugar-of-milk ;  for  bitter,  sulphate  of  qui- 
nine;  for  salt,  cooking-salt;  for  sour,  tartaric  acid  and 
lactic  acid  ;  for  alkahnes,  soda. 


CHAPTEE  V. 

SMELL. 

The  observations  concerning  the  faculty  of  smell  re- 
late first  to  the  evidence  of  its  existence  in  the  new-born 
human  being ;  next  to  the  discrimination  of  impressions 
of  smell  on  the  part  of  the  infant.  These  are  followed 
by  some  statements  concerning  smell  in  new-born  ani- 
mals. 

1.  Faculty  of  Smell  in  the  Newly-born. 

The  child  can,  even  in  its  first  days,  be  constrained, 
by  strong-smelling  substances,  to  mimetic  movements. 
Kussmaul  has  ascertained  that  new-born  children  in 
sleep,  when  the  odor  of  asafoetida  or  of  the  very  bad- 
smelling  Dippel's-oil  enters  their  nostrils,  frequently  shut 
the  eyelids  tighter  together,  distort  the  face,  become 
restless,  move  the  head  and  the  arms,  awake ;  and  go 
to  sleep  again  when  the  cause  of  the  smell  is  removed. 
Genzmer  observed  that  well  developed,  lively  children, 
are  brought  to  screaming  by  strong  impressions  of  smell. 
He   made   use   of   the    ill-smelling   aqua   fcetida   anti- 


SMELL.         »  131 

hysterica,  whicli  was  rubbed  with  a  pencil  upon  the 
upper  edge  of  the  upper  lip  of  sleeping  and  waking 
children.  The  infants  made  movements  of  sucking;, 
when  but  little  liquid  was  put  on ;  of  choking,  when 
more  was  put  on ;  the  eyes,  too,  were  screwed  up  and 
the  countenance  was  distorted,  as  after  strong  gustatory 
impressions.  I]ow  many  hours  old  the  children  were, 
is  not  stated. 

In  these  observations  the  sensation  of  wetness  has 
been  overlooked,  and  both  investigators  have  failed  to 
consider  that  in  their  experiments  there  was  by  no 
means  an  excitement  of  the  nerves  of  smell  exclusively. 
The  failure  of  the  first  to  obtain  decisive  results  when 
he  selected  waking  infants,  and  the  circumstance  that 
only  strongly  stimulating  substances  were  found  effica- 
cious, as  well  as  the  appearance  of  strong  reflex  move- 
ments, points  rather  to  an  excitement  of  the  sensitive 
nerve  (the  trigeminus)  than  of  the  nerve  of  smell  (the 
olfactory).  Still  the  tests  with  asafcetida  are  to  be  re- 
ferred to  the  latter  alone.  Children  born  a  month  too 
soon  likewise  react  on  odorous  substances  in  the  above 
fashion  (Kussmaul). 

The  proof  of  the  existence  of  the  faculty  of  smell 
in  the  newly-born  child  would  be  produced,  if  its  mother 
or  nurse  would  make  up  her  mind  to  smear  her  breast 
with  a  strong-smelling  substance  that  has  no  taste,  or 
if  some  volatile  stuff  like  petroleum,  spirits  of  wine, 
cologne-water,  asafcetida,  in  small  quantity,  were  put 
upon  a  nursing-bottle  or  a  nipple-shell.  If  the  child 
then  refuses  to  suck  at  the  breast  or  the  bottle  that 
smells  of  the  stuff,  and  does  not  refuse  the  source  of 
milk  that  has  been  left  in  its  natural  state,  then  the 


132  THE    MIND   OF   THE   CHILD. 

child  can  smell.  For  in  case  of  weak  odors  of  this  sort 
it  is  not  to  be  assumed  that  there  will  be  perceptible 
accompanying  excitement  of  the  nasal  fibers  of  the  tri- 
geminus. Such  experiments  are  urgently  to  be  wished. 
A  girl  babe  of  eighteen  hours  obstinately  refused  the 
breast  upon  the  nipple  of  which  a  little  petroleum,  or 
oil-of-amber,  had  been  rubbed,  but  gladly  took  the  other 
breast.  This  experiment  of  Kroner's  alone  corresponds 
to  my  suggestion  given  above  (made  in  1878) ;  only  it 
ought  to  be  repeated  with  a  number  of  very  young 
children.  For  the  observation  that  infants  in  the  first 
days  reject  the  breast  of  the  mother,  when  this  has  by 
accident  acquired  a  strange  smell,  was  not  instituted  with 
regard  to  infants  just  born.  And  the  fact  that  many 
new-born  children  after  having  once  tasted  their  mother's 
milk,  refuse  for  a  long  time,  in  spite  of  hunger  and 
thirst,  to  take  any  other  food,  is  not  convincing,  for  this 
is  not  a  case  of  sensations  of  smell  exclusively,  nor  again 
of  children  just  born. 

On  the  other  hand,  some  of  Kroner's  observations 
are  decidedly  in  favor  of  the  view  that  the  normal  child 
can  smell,  a  quarter  of  an  hour  after  birth,  and  a  few 
houis  or  days  after.  For  it  turns  up  its  nose  and  makes 
a  wry  face  when  Dippel's-oil  or  amber-oil  is  offered  it, 
and  "  children  several  hours  old  become  generally  rest- 
less, screw  the  eyelids  tight  together,  open  the  mouth, 
and  thrust  out  the  tongue." 

In  all  experiments  of  this  kind  concerning  the  sense 
of  smell  in  the  newly -born,  care  must  also  be  taken  that 
the  nostrils  shall  be  perfectly  open  to  the  passage  of  the 
air.  The  child  must  breathe  easily  with  his  mouth  shut. 
The  filling  of  the  nostrils  with  amniotic  fluid  excludes 


SMELL.  133 

the  possibility  of  a  sensation  of  smell  before  birth.  But 
directly  after  the  beginning  of  respiration  this  liquid  is 
displaced  by  air,  and  it  is  a  question  whether  then  the 
olfactory  mucous  membrane  needs  first  a  longer  invigo- 
ration  by  the  air  before  the  olfactory  cells  can  be  the 
means  of  a  sensation  of  smell,  or  whether  a  reaction  fol- 
lows immediately  upon  the  inhalation  of  air  that  has  an 
odor. 

2.  Discrimination  of  Impressions  of  Smell. 

The  sense  of  smell,  when  it  has  once  been  aroused 
to  activity,  continues  to  be  of  decisive  importance  to  the 
infant  in  the  choice  of  food,  and  this  from  the  beginning. 
Sensations  of  smell  are  present,  for  the  first  time,  not  at 
the  age  of  four  weeks,  or  from  the  second  month  on,  as 
many  think,  but  even  in  the  first  days,  and  the  pleasant 
and  unpleasant  feelings  occasioned  by  them  increase  in 
intensity  from  day  to  day.  Children  of  a  few  weeks 
sometimes  do  not  take  the  breast  of  a  nurse  whose  skin 
has  a  disagreeable  smell,  and  they  cry  out  as  soon  as  the 
breast  approaches  them.  There  is  no  doubt  that  chil- 
dren born  blind  very  early  smell  the  spoon  filled  with 
milk  or  broth,  and  the  disinclination  of  many  infants,  in 
the  first  week,  to  take  cow's  milk  after  they  have  had 
the  breast,  must  be  ascribed  to  the  smell  rather  than  to 
the  taste,  since  they  sometimes  refuse  the  milk  when  it 
is  brought  near  them  without  tasting  it.  In  such  a  case 
the  decisive  experiment  would  be  to  hold  the  child's 
nose  and  bandage  its  eyes,  to  see  whether  it  would  not 
then  take  willingly  the  new  food.  At  all  events,  the 
sense  of  smell  in  children  born  blind  plays  an  essential 
part  in  the  taking  of  food,  and  develops  its  own  memory 

as  early  as  does  the  sense  of  taste. 
11 


134  THE  MIND   OF  THE   CHILD. 

"Whether  the  babe,  however,  knows  its  sleeping 
mother  in  the  night  by  the  smell,  as  animals  undoubt- 
edly do,  must  be  left  undecided.  To  me  it  is  probable 
that  the  child  does  not  recognize  her  when  it  does  not 
see,  hear,  or  feel  her. 

That  the  sense  of  smell  is  concerned  in  the  seeking 
of  the  nipple,  on  the  part  of  the  babe  that  is  merely  laid 
by  the  nurse  but  not  otherwise  assisted  (as  is  the  case 
with  animals),  also  seems  to  me  improbable  from  my 
own  observations  in  the  lying-in  hospital.  For  the  chil- 
dren, indeed,  push  hither  and  thither  (often  with  sur- 
prising quickness  and  violence),  with  the  whole  head 
against  the  breast  (like  young  lambs,  kids,  calves,  foals) 
with  open  mouth  and  intermittent  movements  of  the 
lower  jaw  ;  but  in  my  own  child  it  was  not  till  the 
eighth  day  of  life  that  I  saw  this  groping  about ;  and 
whether  the  sense  of  smell  co-operates  in  this  is  doubt- 
ful, for  the  child  often  sucked  at  the  wrong  place. 

Later,  long  after  weaning,  the  sense  of  smell  is  un- 
questionably the  least  turned  to  account  for  the  knowl- 
edge of  things.  Impressions  of  smell  are  regularly  con- 
founded with  impressions  of  taste.  The  following  notes 
regarding  the  behavior  of  my  child  show  how  late  in 
his  case  smell  appeared  distinctly: 

In  the  fifteenth  month,  freshly-ground  coffee  and 
cologne-water,  both  of  which  he  liked  very  much  to 
smell  in  his  third  year,  made  no  impression  at  all,  or 
only  a  slight  one.  They  were  not  desired,  neither  were 
any  movements  made  to  repel  them  if  they  were  held 
under  the  nose  of  the  child  when  his  mouth  was  shut. 
At  the  end  of  this  month,  however,  cologne-water  held 
under  his  nose  made  the  child  laugh.    lie  took  pleasure 


SMELL.  135 

in  the  odor  as  in  any  other  new,  agreeahle  sense-impres- 
sion. In  the  sixteenth  month  he  was  affected  in  just 
the  same  way  by  the  odor  of  oil-of -roses. 

In  the  seventeenth  month,  however,  the  inability  to 
separate  smell  and  taste  showed  itself  still  in  unmistak- 
able fashion.  For  every  time  that  I  wanted  to  make 
the  child  smell  something — for  example,  when  I  held  a 
hyacinth  or  an  essence  to  his  nose — he  would  open  his 
mouth,  and  in  fact  take  the  sweet-smelling  flower  into 
his  mouth.  He  thought,  therefore,  that  as  he  had  hith- 
erto had  agreeable  sensations  of  smell  only  in  connection 
with  taste  (of  milk),  he  must  now,  since  he  was  smelling, 
also  taste — a  very  interesting  proof,  in  relation  to  the 
genesis  of  mind,  that  sensation  is  independent  of  the 
knowledge  of  the  organ  of  sensation ;  and  that  the 
reasoning  processes  depend  upon  the  preceding  associa- 
tions of  sensation. 

In  the  eighteenth  month  the  child  no  longer  carried 
regularly  to  his  mouth  the  objects  he  was  to  smell  or  that 
he  wanted  to  smell ;  he  had  therefore  recognized  the 
separation  of  smell  from  taste.  If  I  gave  him  a  rose,  say- 
ing, "  Smell  of  it !  "  (u  Rieeh  einmal !  ")  he  would  put 
the  flower  to  his  nose,  with  his  mouth  shut,  and  inhale 
the  aroma  through  the  nose,  though,  to  be  sure,  only 
after  exhaling  the  breath  many  times  against  the  flower. 
For  a  long  time  "  smell  "  was  understood  to  mean  ex- 
haling, probably  because  the  nurse,  in  order  to  indicate 
smell,  had  always  feigned  a  sneeze.  Yet  the  opening 
of  the  mouth  occasionally  appeared  later  also,  when  the 
child  was  to  smell  anything.  Genuine  snuffing,  taking 
in  the  air  for  the  purpose  of  smelling,  did  not  take 
place. 


136  THE   MIND   OF   THE   CHILD. 

As  no  exercises  in  smelling  are  in  general  instituted 
for  children,  and  as  the  infant  almost  always  has  a  sour- 
ish smell  of  half-digested  milk,  and  has  little  opportunity 
to  smell  anything  except  milk  and  his  own  perspiration 
and  that  of  his  nurse  or  mother,  the  late  development  of 
smell,  as  a  conscious  act,  is  not  surprising.  The  im- 
portance of  this  function  for  testing  the  atmosphere  and 
food,  and  for  cleanliness,  is  unfortunately  almost  uni- 
versally underestimated.  We  find,  too,  as  is  well  known, 
in  many,  probably  in  most,  adults,  a  great  uncertainty 
as  to  whether  they  have  a  sensation  of  smell  or  a  sensa- 
tion of  taste,  or  both.  The  civilized  child  ordinarily 
grows  up  without  instruction  in  this  respect,  although 
it  would  be  very  useful  to  impress  upon  him  early  the 
various  kinds  of  smell,  in  association  with  definite  ex- 
pressions for  them,  as  is  usually  done  with  colors  and 

tones. 

3.  Smell  in  New-born  Animals. 

Many  mammals  are  capable  of  distinguishing  differ- 
ent impressions  of  smell  only  a  few  hours  after  birth. 

Especially  in  the  case  of  new-born  Guinea-pigs,  no 
one  of  which  was  more  than  seventeen  hours  old,  I  was 
able  easily  to  establish  this  fact.  For  when  I  put  ill- 
smelling  substances,  like  asafoetida,  in  not  too  small 
quantities,  on  the  bottom  of  a  wide-mouthed  glass  bottle, 
lying  in  a  horizontal  position,  into  which  the  animal 
under  observation  crept,  the  creature  repeatedly  wiped 
and  rubbed  its  nose  with  the  fore-feet.  Further,  the 
animals  turned  away,  with  a  quick  sidewise  movement 
of  the  head,  after  concentrated  propionic  acid,  or  car- 
bolic acid,  or  water-ammonia,  had  been  held  before  them 
some  seconds.     Often  they  sneezed  at  the  same  time 


SMELL.  137 

with  a  peculiar  noise.  The  smell  of  camphor,  on  the 
other  hand,  seemed  to  be  not  disagreeable  to  young 
Guinea-pigs ;  for  they  stayed  a  long  time  in  a  glass  half 
filled  with  pieces  of  camphor,  when  they  might  easily 
have  left  it,  and  they  made  none  of  those  movements  of 
repulsion.  The  same  is  the  case  with  gum-benjamin. 
Here,  to  be  sure,  the  rapid  blunting  of  sensitiveness  to 
odors  should  be  taken  into  account. 

I  tested  several  more  odorous  substances  in  this  way, 
especially  oil-of-thyme,  alcohol,  ethylic  ether,  chloro- 
form, prussic  acid,  and  nicotine.  Toward  these  last  the 
Guinea-pigs  did  not  act  with  so  much  decision  on  the 
first  day  as  they  did  toward  the  first-mentioned,  prob- 
ably because  the  attenuation,  in  order  to  avoid  its  being 
poisonous,  was  too  great.  Thus  much,  however,  is  set- 
tled :  new-born  animals  a  few  hours  after  birth  discrimi- 
nate between  agreeable  and  disagreeable  smells.  The 
impressions  must  simply  be  strong  enough.  Any  one 
who  has  seen  how  animals,  when  only  half  a  day  old, 
behave  toward  asafoetida  and  camphor,  will  not  doubt 
that  the  former  causes  them  discomfort,  while  the  latter 
does  not.  Tobacco-smoke  also  is  offensive  to  them,  and 
when  blown  against  the  face  causes,  even  before  the 
close  of  the  first  day  of  life,  shutting  of  the  eyes  and 
drawing  back  of  the  head — accordingly,  purposive  re- 
flexes of  defense. 

We  are  not  justified,  indeed,  in  assuming  that  mam- 
mals just  born  perceive  the  odorous  substances  men- 
tioned by  means  of  their  olfactory  nerves  only,  for  the 
sneezing,  the  rubbing  of  the  nose  with  the  fore-feet,  the 
closing  of  the  eyelids,  the  turning  away  and  drawing 
back  of  the  head  from  strong-smelling  substances,  the 


138  THE  MIND  OF  THE  CHILD. 

surprising  indifference  toward  substances  having  a  less 
intense  but  still  a  decided  odor,  indicate,  in  the  experi- 
ments upon  animals  of  one  day  old,  an  excitement  of 
the  nasal  branch  of  the  trigeminus.  But  it  is  demon- 
strated by  other  facts  that  mammals,  dogs,  rabbits,  cats, 
can  really  smell  directly  after  the  first  respirations. 

Biffi  bisected  the  olfactory  lobes  in  very  young  pup- 
pies that  had  not  yet  their  sight.  They  bore  the  opera- 
tion well,  and  the  mother's  licking  helped  to  heal  the 
wound.  Animals  thus  treated  could  no  longer  find  the 
mother's  teats,  so  long  as  they  were  blind.  They  crept 
about  on  her  belly,  trying  to  suck  everywhere — tentando 
qua  e  Id  col  muso  gli  oggetti.  In  most  cases  somebody 
had  to  open  their  mouths  and  put  the  teat  in.  On  the 
contrary,  blind  puppies  in  the  normal  state  find  the 
teats  at  once,  as  if  they  saw  them.  Accordingly,  it  is 
not  to  be  doubted  that  in  trying  to  find  the  source  of 
the  milk,  the  young  are  guided  by  smell,  for  they  could 
make  use  of  touch  (after  being  operated  on)  as  they 
could  before.  We  may  conclude,  then,  that  the  olfac- 
tory nerve  is  excitable  in  other  just-born  mammals  also, 
and  that  it  was  concerned  in  the  above  experiments. 

This  inference  is  confirmed  by  the  experiments  of 
Gudden,  which  show  that  in  rabbits  one  or  two  days 
old,  the  closing  of  one  nostril,  or  the  removal  of  one 
hemisphere  of  the  brain,  hinders  the  development  of 
the  olfactory  nerve,  of  the  olfactory  bulb,  and  of  the 
tractus  of  that  side.  With  the  removal  of  one  bulbus, 
the  tractus  almost  entirely  disappears.  After  the  re- 
moval of  both  the  olfactory  bulbs,  which  makes  a 
comparatively  insignificant  wound,  the  little  creatures, 
entirely  deprived  of  the  sense  of  smell,  soon  perished 


SMELL.  1 39 

in  consequence  of  deficient  nourishment,  since  they  no 
longer  found  their  way  well  to  the  old  ones  and  their 
teats,  notwithstanding  the  assistance  they  got  from  the 
nervi  trigemini.  It  is  then  as  it  is, in  the  case  of  sim- 
ple bisection  of  both  olfactory  nerves.  When,  on  the 
other  hand,  the  organs  of  smell  were  left  unharmed,  and 
both  eyes  were  taken  from  the  newly-born,  and  both 
ears  stopped,  then  the  sense  of  smell  was  developed  in 
a  very  high  degree,  the  olfactory  bulbs  being  demon- 
strably enlarged  beyond  the  ordinary  measure.  In  like 
manner,  the  external  ears  of  a  rabbit,  that  had  been  de- 
prived of  both  its  eyes  soon  after  birth,  had  a  vigorous 
development,  and  the  hearing  became  acute  beyond 
what  is  normal. 

From  these  experiments  we  infer  both  the  depend- 
ence of  the  organic  development  upon  stimulation  from 
without  and  the  power  of  physiological  concurrence, 
but  in  particular  we  infer  that  rabbits  very  soon  after 
birth  can  smell  and  that  they  make  abundant  use  of 
this  capacity  in  finding  the  teats.  Otherwise  it  would 
be  incomprehensible  that  they  can  no  longer  find  the 
teats  after  the  destruction  of  the  olfactory  nerves  alone, 
and  that  they  perish  of  hunger. 

Spalding  has  observed,  further,  that  four  kittens, 
three  days  old,  and  still  blind,  when  he  put  near  them 
his  hand,  which  a  dog  had  just  licked,  began  to  spit  in 
a  way  that  was  amusing.  He  infers  from  this  that  the 
cat  abhors  her  hereditary  enemy  even  before  she  can  see 
him.  Here  the  fact  ought  to  be  brought  to  notice  that 
on  the  third  day  the  cat  possesses  a  finely-developed 
sense  of  smell. 

At  the  same  time,  however,  by  this  observation  and 


140  THE  MIND  OF  THE  CHILD. 

many  others,  especially  that  of  the  "  pointing "  and 
"setting"  of  young  bird-dogs,  the  fact  is  proved  that 
the  memory  of  certain  impressions  of  smell  is  inherited. 
In  man  such  olfactory  instincts  probably  no  longer 
appear.  With  him  the  sense  of  smell  plays  in  general 
a  much  less  pronounced  part  in  the  genesis  of  mind 
than  it  does  in  the  brutes,  which  are  well  known  to 
surpass  him  greatly,  at  an  early  stage,  in  recognizing 
and  discriminating  odors,  and  which  are  occupied  all 
their  lives,  much  more  than  man  is,  with  perceptions  of 
smell. 


CHAPTER   VI. 

THE    EARLIEST   ORGANIC    SENSATIONS    AND    EMOTIONS. 

With  regard  to  the  physiological  conditions  of  the 
organic  sensations  and  emotions  of  adult  human  beings, 
so  little  that  is  of  general  application  is  established,  that 
an  investigation  of  these  in  the  child  who  can  not  yet 
speak  seems  premature.  I  have,  therefore,  directed  my 
attention  merely  to  a  small  number  of  sensations  and 
emotions  in  the  child.  My  observations  are,  unfortu- 
nately, as  yet  very  fragmentary  in  this  direction.  But 
it  is  better  to  communicate  them  than  to  be  silent  about 
them,  if  only  to  show  that  here  many  new  problems  are, 
as  it  were,  growing  up  out  of  the  ground,  close  upon 
one  another. 

The  whole  behavior  of  the  child  is  determined  es- 
sentially by  his  feelings  of  pleasure  and  his  feelings  of 
discomfort.     For  this  reason  I  shall  speak  first  of  these 


THE   EARLIEST   ORGANIC   SENSATIONS  AND  EMOTIONS.  141 

in  general.  Next  appear  in  the  life  of  the  child,  among 
the  special  feelings,  the  feeling  of  hunger,  and  the  feel- 
ing of  satiety,  concerning  which  I  append  some  obser- 
vations. I  have  likewise  considered  the  feeling  of  fa- 
tigue, which  is  much  less  marked  in  children. 

Of  emotions,  fear  and  surprise  are  prominent  in  im- 
portance for  the  mental  development  of  the  very  young 
child. 

1.   Feelings  of  Pleasure  in  General. 

Ill  the  first  three  months  the  feelings  of  pleasure 
are  not  manifold.  Besides  the  apjDeasing  of  hunger, 
with  the  enjoyment  that  ever  recurs  along  with  it,  of 
sucking  and  of  the  sweet  taste,  there  comes  in  the  first 
month,  and  indeed  from  the  first  day  on,  a  pleasurable 
feeling  through  the  warm  bath.  The  less  intense  but 
constant  satisfaction  in  moderately  bright  impressions 
of  light  comes  next,  and,  somewhat  later,  that  in  objects 
moved  slowly  before  the  eyes.  The  pleasure  in  both 
steadily  grows,  but  is  not  so  great  as  the  pleasurable 
feeling  in  being  undressed,  which  likewise  makes  its 
appearance  in  the  first  weeks.  The  release  from  cloth- 
ing, etc.,  is  followed  regularly  by  lively  movements, 
especially  by  alternate  stretchings  of  the  legs  and  visi- 
ble comfort.  Great  satisfaction  is  also  afforded  the 
infant  by  the  process  of  wiping  it  dry. 

Acoustic  impressions  regularly  produce  pleasurable 
feelings  in  the  second  month.  Singing,  piano-playing, 
and  all  sorts  of  musical  sounds,  sometimes  quiet  the 
restless  child,  sometimes  cause  lively  expressions  of  joy 
in  the  child,  as  he  is  lying  comfortably  or  is  held  in  the 
arms.  So  it  is  when  he  is  spoken  to  by  members  of 
the  family.     The  large,  bright  oval  of  the  face,  that 


142  THE   MIND   OF   THE   CHILD. 

moves  close  in  front  of  the  child's  face,  and  speaks  and 
sings  and  laughs,  arouses  attention  and  produces  cheer- 
fulness early  through  its  peculiarity,  being  different 
from  all  other  optical  impressions,  yet  the  human  child 
hardly  knows  its  mother  before  the  third  month. 

In  the  fourth  month,  the  pleasure  of  grasping  at  all 
possible  objects  comes  gradually  into  view,  becomes 
plain  in  the  tifth,  and  continues  to  increase  in  the 
sixth.  The  delight  of  being  taken  out-of-doors  at  this 
period  is  probably  occasioned  more  by  the  change,  the 
greater  brightness,  and  the  fresher  air,  than  by  the 
sight  of  trees  and  houses.  The  child's  own  image  in 
the  mirror  was  in  one  case  observed  with  unquestion- 
able signs  of  pleasure  in  the  seventh  month ;  animals 
and  watches  do  not  generally  excite  the  child's  pleasur- 
able interest  till  later. 

A  new  sort  of  pleasurable  feelings,  in  which  an  in- 
tellectual element  already  mingles,  appears  when  the 
child  begins  himself  to  produce  some  change,  espe- 
cially of  form,  through  his  own  activity,  so  that  he 
gradually  acquires  the  knowledge  of  his  own  power. 
Here  belong  not  only  the  effects  of  the  voice,  espe- 
cially of  screaming  and  of  the  first  sounds  uttered  by 
himself,  but  also  the  first  plays.  First  of  all,  and  that 
in  the  fifth  month,  in  the  case  of  my  child,  it  was  the 
act  of  crumpling  a  sheet  of  paper,  that  was  taken  up 
and  repeated  with  evident  gratification.  Tearing  news- 
papers to  pieces  and  rolling  them  up  into  balls  afforded 
him  great  pleasure  from  that  time  to  his  third  year. 
A  like  enlivening  effect  was  produced  by  the  long- 
continued  pulling  of  a  glove  this  way  and  that  (prac- 
ticed from  the  fifth  month  to  the  fourth  year,  from  time 


THE  EARLIEST  ORGANIC  SENSATIONS  AND  EMOTIONS.  143 

to  time),  also  by  pulling  at  the  Lair  of  one's  beard  (at 
the  same  period),  then  by  the  -ringing  of  a  little  bell, 
con  tinned  an  intolerably  long  time.  Later  it  was  the 
movements  of  his  own  body  in  locomotion  (in  march- 
ing), and  purely  intellectual  pleasures  that  amused  him : 
putting  things  in  and  out,  cutting  with  scissors,  turning 
the  leaves  of  books,  looking  at  pictures.  Last  came  the 
inventive,  embellishing  and  yet  moderate  imagination, 
that  gives  life  to  shapeless  blocks  of  wood,  transforms 
the  leaves  of  trees  into  savory  food,  and  so  on. 

On  the  whole,  however,  it  is  manifest  in  the  case 
of  all  children  in  the  first  part  of  their  life,  that  much  v 
more  happiness  comes  through  relief  from  disagreeable  ) 
conditions  than  through  the  provision  of  positively 
agreeable  conditions.  Hunger,  thirst,  wet,  cold,  swad- 
dling-clothes— the  getting  rid  of  these  produces  pleas- 
urable feelings,  which  are  in  part  stronger,  in  part  not 
weaker,  than  those  occasioned  by  mild  light,  moving 
tassels,  lukewarm  baths,  song,  and  the  friendliness  of 
parents.  It  is  not  until  the  second  three  months  that 
wholly  new  scenes  of  enjoyment  are  entered  upon  with 
the  first  successful  attempts  at  grasping  objects. 

The  first  period  of  human  life  belongs  to  the  least 
agreeable,  inasmuch  as  not  only  the  number  of  enjoy- 
ments is  small,  but  the  capacity  for  enjoyment  is  small 
likewise,  and  the  unpleasant  feelings  predominate  until 
sleep  interrupts  them. 

The  expressions  of  pleasurable  feeling  are  at  the 
beginning  not  very  various ;  but  from  the  first  day 
signs  of  pleasure  are  open  eyes,  and  soon  after  an  ani- 
mated gleam  in  them — a  slight  excitation  of  the  secre- 
tory nerve  of  the  lachrymal  gland. 


144  TIIE   MIND   OF   THE   CHILD. 

The  voice  is  in  the  first  days  an  altogether  different 
one  when  pleasurable  feelings  are  expressed  from  what 
it  is  when  the  child  is  hungry,  and  high,  crowing  tones, 
as  a  sure  sign  of  joy,  have  in  fact  been  observed  by  me 
in  the  fourth  month.  They  were  always  employed 
with  the  same  significance  even  in  the  fourth  year. 
Toward  the  end  of  the  first  year  there  appeared  in  the 
case  of  my  boy,  as  an  acoustic  expression  of  pleasure,  a 
peculiar  grunting,  caused  probably  by  oscillations  of  the 
uvula  with  the  mouth  shut.  This  made  its  appearance 
especially  when  the  child  had  a  joyous  anticipation, 
was  expecting  something  agreeable,  and  it  used  to  be 
associated  frequently  with  a  movement  of  abdominal 
pressure.  A  genuine  pressure  or  straining,  accompa- 
nied by  a  strong  expiration,  or  by  that  grunting  with 
shut  mouth,  was  for  months  an  indubitable  expression 
of  pleasure.  I  have  not  succeeded  in  finding  an  ex- 
planation of  this  peculiarity. 

More  commonly,  movements  of  the  extremities  are 
found  in  infants  as  signs  of  pleasurable  feelings— stretch- 
ings and  bendings,  drawing  up  and  throwing  out  the 
arms  and  legs  (especially  in  the  bath,  and  when  the 
piano  was  played,  were  these  clearly  manifested,  even 
in  the  second  month) ;  at  a  later  period  these  are  multi- 
plied and  are  associated  with  very  loud,  joyous  shout- 
ing, as  early  as  the  third  quarter  of  the  first  year.  What 
is  called  "  Strampeln  "  (kicking),  is  also  frequently  ob- 
served after  the  clothes  are  taken  off,  when  the  infant 
has  been  fed  and  is  comfortable  in  a  warm,  dry  bed,  in 
a  moderate  light,  not  excited  by  new  impressions.  I 
saw  also,  in  the  sixth  month  even,  the  quick,  bilateral, 
symmetrical  movement,  up  and  down,  of  the  arms  (not 


THE  EARLIEST  ORGANIC  SENSATIONS  AND  EMOTIONS.  145 

of  the  legs),  joined  with  laughing,  as  an  expression  of 
pleasure,  when  one  simply  nodded  to  the  child  in  a 
friendly  manner.  The  striking  of  the  hands  together 
and  laughing  for  joy,  perhaps  at  the  lighting  of  a  lamp, 
does  not  occur  till  later  (ninth  and  tenth  months).  But 
loud  laughing  from  this  time  on  is  not  always  an  ex- 
pression of  joy  ;  for,  from  the  end  of  the  first  half-year, 
my  child  very  often  laughed  when  others  laughed  to 
him,  and  from  the  end  of  the  first  year  almost  invaria- 
bly when  any  one  laughed  near  him,  merely  in  imita- 
tion, and  quite  mechanically,  vacantly,  without  knowing 
why.  If  he  crowed  meantime,  with  vigorous  employ- 
ment of  abdominal  pressure,  then,  indeed,  he  had  some 
special  reason  for  joy.  But  when  (in  the  second  month) 
he  laughs  on  being  tickled  upon  the  sole  of  the  foot, 
the  laughing  is  reflexive.  Intentional  laughing  for 
pleasure — e.  g.,  at  the  repetition  of  an  agreeable  play, 
or  of  a  musical  chord  (in  the  first  quarter  of  the  sec- 
ond year) — is,  even  for  the  practiced  ear,  difficult  to  dis- 
tinguish from  reflexive  laughing,  but  the  countenance 
of  the  child,  smiling  as  he  regards  the  face  of  his 
mother,  is  easily  distinguishable,  even  in  the  third 
month  (by  the  direction  of  the  look),  from  that  of  the 
child  smiling  vacantly,  upon  a  full  stomach.  In  both 
cases  the  smile  is  a  sign  of  pleasure ;  but  in  the  first 
case  it  is  a  sign  of  a  special  sensation — in  the  last,  of 
nothing  more  than  a  general  sensation. 

With  regard  to  the  connection  of  all  these  muscular 
actions  with  the  nervous  processes  underlying  the  joy- 
ous emotion,  nothing  is  as  yet  known.  Screaming  from 
pain  and  laughing  from  pleasure  are  modified  expira- 
tions, and  not  the  least  help  is  to  be  elicited  from  the 


146  THE  MIND  OF  THE  CHILD. 

relation  of  the  respiratory  apparatus  to  the  sensorium 
for  the  explanation  of  these  expressions  of  antagonistic 
emotions.  The  excessive  inclination  to  movement  as  a 
symptom  of  joy,  in  little  children  and  young  animals, 
seems  mysterious,  and  the  hysterical  leap  from  crying  to 
laughing  in  a  moment,  in  children  three  to  four  years 
old,  which  has  nothing  morbid  in  it,  can  not  lessen  the 
difficulty  of  the  attempt  at  a  physiological  explanation. 
It  is  probably  true  of  little  children  in  general,  that 
every  strong  feeling  brings  in  its  train  a  motor  discharge. 
It  is,  in  fact,  very  difficult,  even  for  older  children — nay, 
for  many  adults  as  well — not  to  betray  great  joy,  just 
experienced,  by  some  look,  or  by  the  brightness  of  the 
eyes,  or  an  increased  animation,  and  not  to  make  some 
movement  on  hearing  merry  dance-music. 

2.  Unpleasant  Peelings  in  General. 

In  the  first  half-year  of  life,  unpleasant  feelings  are 
more  frequent  than  afterward.  Even  with  the  most 
careful  nursing,  ventilation,  regulation  of  the  tempera- 
ture of  the  air  and  of  the  bath,  control  of  the  milk  of 
mother,  nurse,  or  cow,  or  of  the  substitute  for  this,  and 
with  the  most  favorable  surroundings,  it  is  not  often 
granted  to  a  human  child  to  continue  in  perfect  health, 
without  a  day  of  suffering.  Birth  itself  may  be  painful 
to  the  child,  or  may  involve  inevitable  treatment  of  a 
painful  character ;  and  the  number  of  children's  dis- 
eases that  are  in  part  accompanied  by  severe  pain  is  not 
small.  In  no  period  of  life  is  the  mortality  anything 
like  so  great  as  in  the  first  year.  Through  this  tend- 
ency to  illness,  which  is  shown  in  the  helpless,  defense- 
less,  inexperienced    infant,    many    unpleasant   feelings 


THE  EARLIEST  ORGANIC  SENSATIONS  AND   EMOTIONS.   147 

must  arise,  for  only  the  healthy  organism  can  experience 
unalloyed  pleasure. 

But  I  do  not  mean  to  speak  here  of  the  numerous 
unpleasant  feelings  caused  by  illness,  and  by  attempts 
at  cure,  but  only  of  such  as  even  the  perfectly  healthy 
child  can  not  be  spared,  not  even  under  the  most  favor- 
able circumstances.  To  these  belong  hunger  and  thirst, 
discomfort  in  consequence  of  inconvenient  position  in 
lying  or  in  being  held,  or  of  cold,  or  wet,  or  ill-smelling 
air ;  then  the  discomfort  arising  from  the  tight  swath- 
ing that  unfortunately  still  prevails  far  too  widely  in 
Germany  ;  the  pain  of  teething,  the  disagreeable  effects 
of  driveling  ("  drooling,"  Geifem),  and  of  sucking  at 
objects  not  tit  to  be  sucked ;  later,  the  pain  of  being  de- 
nied things  eagerly  craved. 

It  is  an  error  to  maintain  that  the  very  young  child 
is  not  yet  capable  of  having  the  genuine  feeling  of  pain 
or  even  a  high  degree  of  unpleasant  feeling  ;  for  he 
who  can  enjoy  must  also  be  able  to  suffer,  otherwise  he 
could  not  enjoy.  And  that  the  new-born  child  experi- 
ences pleasure  in  sucking  at  a  full,  healthy  breast,  no- 
body doubts.  The  outward  signs  of  unpleasant  feeling 
in  the  infant  are  also  unmistakable  for  every  diligent 
observer. 

Above  all,  crying  is  characteristic  :  it  is  piercing,  and 
persistent  in  pain ;  a  whimpering  in  an  uncomfortable 
posture  ;  uninterrupted  and  very  loud  in  the  cold  bath  ; 
interrupted  by  frequent  pauses  in  hunger  ;  suddenly 
waxing  to  unexpected  intensity,  and  again  decreasing 
quickly,  when  something  is  desired  and  not  obtained. 
Soon  are  added,  as  expressions  of  discomfort,  inarticu- 
late and  articulate  sounds.      The  infant   can   not   yet 


148  THE  MIND  OF  THE  CHILD. 

moan  and  groan,  he  only  utters  cries,  and  in  the  first  days 
does  not  feel  pain  at  many  kinds  of  treatment  that  would 
cause  pain  to  older  children — treatment  confined  to  a 
small  area  of  the  skin ;  for  example,  pricks  of  a  needle, 
cooling  with  ice,  sewing  up  of  wounds  after  operations 
(Genzmer) — for  he  often  keeps  perfectly  quiet  under 
such  treatment,  and  even  falls  asleep.  All  new-born 
infants,  besides,  react  much  more  slowly  by  crying,  in 
response  to  the  strongest  impressions,  than  do  older 
infants. 

A  second  sign  is  the  shutting  of  the  eyes  and 
holding  them  tightly  closed,  which  often  takes  place  in 
adults  also  in  the  same  fashion.  In  the  first  year  the 
child  regularly  closes  his  eyes  when  he  manifests  a 
strong  feeling  of  discomfort  by  screaming.  He  often 
shuts  the  eyes  (especially  in  the  ninth  month)  without 
screaming,  with  corrugated  brow,  when  he  has  to  en- 
dure something  disagreeable ;  e.  g.,  when  he  is  dressed, 
or  when  a  finger  is  put  in  his  mouth,  at  the  period  of 
teething,  in  order  to  feel  the  coming  of  a  tooth. 

A  further  symptom  of  discomfort  is  the  turning 
away  of  the  head,  which  I  likewise  perceived  unac- 
companied by  crying,  under  the  circumstances  just 
mentioned  (distinctly  marked  in  the  first  as  in  the 
ninth  month). 

The  most  delicate  index  of  the  child's  mood  is, 
however,  the  form  of  the  mouth,  as  even  the  least  de- 
gree of  unpleasant  feeling  is  surely  expressed  at  once 
by  drawing  down  the  angles  of  the  mouth.  But  this 
alteration  of  the  child's  countenance,  which  appears 
more  and  more  distinctly  up  to  the  fourth  year  in  every 
single  case,  is  not  developed  so  early  as  the  three  pre- 


THE  EARLIEST  ORGANIC  SENSATIONS  AND  EMOTIONS.  149 

viously  mentioned  expressions  of  discomfort.  In  my 
child,  whom  I  observed  carefully,  this  action  of  the 
muscle  that  depresses  the  angles  of  the  mouth  was  not 
perceived  at  all  before  the  eighteenth  week.  But 
during  and  before  the  twenty-third  week,  whenever 
the  child  was  addressed  in  a  harsh  tone,  the  stern 
countenance  of  the  speaker  was  stared  at  a  moment, 
then  both  angles  of  the  mouth  were  drawn  down. 
Hereupon  began  for  the  iirst  time  the  plaintive  cry, 
accompanied  by  the  appearance  of  the  naso-labial  cor- 
rugation ;  the  cry,  however,  ceased  as  soon  as  the  coun- 
tenance that  had  been  severe  toward  the  child  changed 
to  friendliness.  Very  soon  the  previous  cheerfulness 
returned.  Darwin  saw  even  earlier  this  form  of  the 
mouth,  from  about  the  sixth  week  to  the  second  and 
third  month. 

Accordingly,  the  tirst  appearance  of  this  peculiar 
sign  of  discomfort  is  in  some  cases  in  the  first  three 
months ;  in  others,  in  the  first  half  of  the  second  three 
months.  From  this  time  on,  every  vexation,  but  noth- 
ing else,  is  announced  by  this  sign,  which  is  espe- 
cially pronounced  from  the  sixth  month  on.  Finally, 
from  the  eighth  month  to  the  end  of  the  third  year, 
appears  also,  together  with  violent  screaming,  another 
singular  form  of  the  mouth.  The  mouth  becomes,  viz., 
as  I  often  observed,  quadrangular,  a  parallelogram, 
sometimes  almost  a  square — a  form  which  presents 
itself  at  once  (even  with  perfectly  deaf  children,  to 
judge  from  the  mere  look)  as  a  sure  sign  of  the  highest 
degree  of  discomfort,  as  Darwin  rightly  brings  to  notice. 

In  spite  of  all  these  signs  of  the  existence  of  un- 
pleasant  feelings,  it   is  often  extraordinarily  difficult, 


150  THE   MIND   OF   TIIE   CHILD. 

especially  in  the  first  year,  to  find  out  what  causes 
underlie  them. 

Why  does  the  little  girl  (of  four  months)  weep 
when  her  mother  comes  near  her  with  a  great  hat  on 
her  head,  whereas  the  child  smiles  at  her  when  the 
mother  appears  without  a  hat  or  lays  the  hat  aside  ? 
(Frau  Dr.  Friedemann).  Probably  fear  mingles  with 
the  surprise  at  the  strange,  as  is  the  ease  with  brutes. 

I  once  had  a  good  horse,  that  knew  me  well,  but 
was  afraid  and  began  to  tremble  somewhat  when  I  dis- 
mounted and  crouched  down  upon  the  ground  (to  get 
a  shot  at  a  bird  without  being  seen).  The  beast  was 
evidently  afraid  of  the  new  phenomenon.  His  master 
in  that  hitherto  unseen  attitude  had  become  to  him 
a  strange  being.  In  like  manner  the  very  young  child 
wTill  often  fail  to  understand  an  alteration  in  persons 
whose  image  is  well  impressed  upon  his  mind,  and  wTill 
be  afraid.  Children  may  turn  away  with  horror  from 
hands  they  like  to  kiss,  if  these  hands  are  covered  with 
black  gloves,  and  they  may  be  brought  to  weeping  just 
by  the  sight  of  a  figure,  well  known  to  them,  if  it  be 
clothed  in  black.  It  was  not  till  the  nineteenth  month 
that  my  child  ceased  to  be  reserved  toward  strangers, 
and  occasionally  condescended  to  give  his  hand  to  them 
when  asked,  provided  only  they  were  not  dressed  en- 
tirely in  black  (cf.  pp.  145-147). 

In  many  children  a  high  degree  of  uncomfortable 
feeling  may  exist,  and  in  a  fashion  decidedly  comical 
for  adults,  especially  through  pity.  When  figures  of 
all  sorts — e.  g.,  human  forms — were  cut  out  of  paper 
with  scissors  for  the  amusement  of  my  child,  he  would 
often  wreep  if  a  paper  figure  was  in  danger,  through 


THE  EARLIEST  ORGANIC  SENSATIONS  AND  EMOTIONS.   151 

hasty  cutting,  of  losing  an  arm  or  a  foot  (twenty-seventh 
month).  A  like  account  has  been  given  me  of  a  little 
girl. 

When  an  infant,  fed,  warm,  and  dry,  one  that  we 
are  justified  in  declaring  to  be  perfectly  healthy,  never- 
theless screams,  screws  up  his  eyes,  draws  down  the 
corners  of  his  mouth,  and  does  not  suffer  himself  to  be 
quieted — we  can  not  easily  assign  an  external  cause  of 
his  discomfort.  It  must,  therefore,  be  an  internal,  un- 
known cause.  I  once  let  my  child,  of  three  months,  in 
such  a  situation,  cry  on.  It  was  not  quite  twenty 
minutes  before  he  fell  asleep,  and  he  awoke  in  good 
spirits  after  several  hours.  Often  it  is  not  mere  ill- 
humor  that  expresses  itself  in  such  cases,  but  an  uncon- 
querable impulse  to  cry  out,  which  can  not  be  called 
morbid.  In  some  children  it  is  sleepiness,  weariness, 
even  after  nursing,  that  manifests  itself  in  crying, 
especially  when  anything  hinders  them  from  going  to 
sleep.  Screaming  also  is  a  substitute  for  the  deficient 
movement  of  the  limbs  in  the  case  of  children  in  swad- 
dling-clothes. 

When  no  one  of  the  symptoms  mentioned  of  a 
strong  feeling  of  discomfort  is  present,  a  state  of  dis- 
content of  a  low  grade  may  be  announced  by  a  lack  of 
luster  in  the  eyes,  indolent  movements,  cessation  of  the 
play  of  countenance,  or  a  somewhat  paler  complexion. 
But  in  this  case  the  cause  is  usually  some  disturbance 
of  the  health,  however  slight,  just  as  it  is  with  orang- 
outangs and  chimpanzees.  In  the  babe,  as  in  the 
weaned  and  even  the  older  child — nay,  even  in  adults 
that  have  not  toned  down  the  natural  play  of  feature, 
or  concealed  it  by  self-control — even  in  this  case  I  am 


152  THE  MIND  OF  THE  CHILD. 

compelled  to  designate  the  drawing  down  of  the  angles 
of  the  mouth  as  the  most  delicate  form  of  reaction,  one 
which  does  not  fail  even  in  sleep,  since  it  continues 
after  the  falling  asleep,  in  case  of  illness,  and  imparts 
to  the  countenance  an  extremely  doleful,  piteous  ex- 
pression. Whether  a  cheerful  or  a  sad  mood  prevails, 
may  be  discerned,  without  seeing  any  other  part  of 
the   face,  from   the   appearance   of   the  angle  of   the 

mouth  alone. 

3.   The  Feeling  of  Hunger. 

Soon  after  birth  hunger  and  thirst  assert  themselves. 
They  are  unmistakably  recognizable  in  this,  that,  after 
objects  capable  of  being  sucked  are  put  into  the  mouth, 
sucking  movements  appear,  whereas  the  babe  that  has 
had  enough  does  not  suck,  as  I  very  often  proved. 

If  the  feeling  of  hunger  and  thirst  continues,  the 
child  cries  and  becomes  restless.  But  the  restlessness 
always  disappears  temporarily  during  the  first  days  of 
life  when  something  to  suck  is  put  into  the  mouth,  be 
it  only  the  corner  of  a  pillow  or  a  finger,  so  that  we  are 
justified  in  assuming  that  the  discomfort  that  is  joined 
with  hunger  is  displaced  by  the  pleasure  that  belongs  to 
sucking.  Yet  in  many  children,  even  a  week  after  birth, 
the  crying  from  hunger  can  not  so  surely  be  checked 
by  letting  the  child  suck  at  strange  objects  as  it  could 
earlier  (Genzmer).  So  early  as  this,  then,  the  child 
has  had  a  useful  experience.  In  the  first  days,  almost 
every  hungry  child  sucks  at  its  own  fingers.  Then  the 
crying  begins  again.  This  is  from  the  beginning  a  dif- 
ferent thing  from  the  crying  caused  by  pain,  and  is  dis- 
tinguished from  it  especially  by  the  fact  that  it  does 
not  continue  so  long  uninterrupted ;  on  the  contrary,  I 


THE  EARLIEST   ORGANIC  SENSATIONS  AND  EMOTIONS.   153 

have  always  found — and  I  am  confirmed  in  this  by  ex- 
perienced nurses — that  very  small  children,  when  hun- 
gry, cry  with  short  and  long  intervals.  The  voice,  too, 
has  a  different  ring;  the  cry  of  pain  is  higher  than  that 
of  hunger.  The  cry  of  hunger  is,  likewise,  easily  dis- 
tinguished from  the  cry  of  satisfaction,  even  during  the 
first  days :  for,  when  the  child  cries  from  hunger,  the 
eyes  are  generally  tightly  closed ;  when  it  gives  a  cry 
of  joy,  they  are  open.  Moreover,  my  child,  when  cry- 
ing with  hunger,  used  to  draw  back  the  tongue  and 
spread  it  out ;  this  does  not  take  place  in  other  kinds 
of  crying.  (In  my  boy  this  appeared  plainly  as  late  as 
the  twenty -ninth  week.) 

The  reflex  excitability  of  the  infant  is,  as  others  also 
have  observed,  increased  during  the  condition  of  hun- 
ger, especially  in  regard  to  touches,  most  of  all  on  the 
lips  and  cheeks. 

A  sure  sign  of  hunger,  or  of  the  lively  desire  arising 
from  it,  is,  further,  the  opening  of  the  eyes  widely  on 
being  brought  near  the  breast,  even  before  being  placed 
at  it,  a  thing  which  occurs  regularly  in  the  first  weeks 
of  life,  but  not  before  the  very  first  experience  of  the 
breast.     Experience,  then,  is  necessary  for  this  also. 

I  have  not  seen  any  other  than  the  hungry  child, 
directly  before  beginning  to  suck  at  the  breast,  make 
the  peculiar  shaking  movements  of  the  head,  which 
take  place  in  the  same  way  when  an  artificial  nipple 
is  put  to  the  lips  of  the  babe  (in  the  first  and  second 
months) ;  these  movements,  however,  become  fainter 
and  cease  if  the  rubber  is  often  removed  from  the 
mouth  and  again  put  in,  as  if  the  uselessness  of  those 
movements   were   perceived.      Although   these   move- 


154  THE  MIND  OF  THE  CHILD. 

merits  soon  cease  entirely,  the  animal  eagerness  for 
food  manifestly  increases  in  the  first  year.  While 
draining  the  bottle  the  eyes  are  opened  wide,  and 
the  gaze  is  never  turned  from  the  bottle  (especially 
in  the  sixth  and  seventh  months).  If  the  child  of  six 
months  is  very  hungry,  he  turns  the  head  and  the  gaze 
vigorously  and  persistently  toward  the  bottle,  held  before 
him  at  a  small  or  a  great  distance,  and  at  once  cries  vio- 
lently if  it  be  taken  out  of  the  room.  On  the  other 
hand,  he  opens  his  month  eagerly  if  the  bottle  be 
brought  near  him.  This  object,  and  in  general  every- 
thing connected  with  it,  has  in  the  third  quarter  of  the 
first  year  by  far  the  greatest  interest  for  the  infant,  who 
stretches  out  his  arms  toward  it  with  sparkling  eyes  if 
he  has  not  had  enough. 

From  the  fifth  month  on,  however,  we  succeeded  in 
diverting  his  attention  temporarily  from  the  taking  of 
food  by  means  of  new  noises  and  movements  (page  8(  3 ) ; 
in  the  last  three  months  of  the  first  year  his  eating  was 
not  so  hurried  as  before  ;  hunger  no  longer  prevailed  so 
much  over  all  other  feelings.  This  progress,  apart  from 
the  fact  that  under  normal  circumstances  his  hunger  is 
always  appeased  without  delay,  is  also  due  to  the  increase 
in  the  quantity  of  nourishment  taken  at  a  single  meal. 
The  smaller  the  stomach,  the  oftener  it  becomes  empty. 
The  more  it  can  hold,  the  longer  will  hunger  be  post- 
poned, there  being  no  lack  of  nourishment.  In  healthy 
new-born  infants  the  stomach  holds  (according  to 
Beneke)  only  thirty-five  to  forty-three  cubic  centime- 
tres ;  after  two  weeks,  one  hundred  and  fifty-three  to 
one  hundred  and  sixty ;  after  two  years,  seven  hun- 
dred and  forty  (leaving  out  great  individual  variations). 


THE  EARLIEST  ORGANIC  SENSATIONS  AND  EMOTIONS.   155 

Thus  the  intervals  between  the  meals  become  gradually 
longer,  and  the  meals  less  frequent,  and  there  remains 
in  the  intervals  more  time  for  the  infant  to  turn  its  at- 
tention to  other  things  than  food,  since  the  child,  the 
older  it  grows,  sleeps  so  much  the  less  and  consumes  its 
food  so  much  the  less  rapidly.  In  the  tenth  week,  to 
be  awake  and  hungry  three  times  in  a  night  (from  eight 
to  six  o'clock)  is  little ;  in  the  fifteenth  week,  the  inter- 
vals between  meals  are  prolonged  in  the  daytime  to 
three  or  four  hours,  against  two  hours  at  the  beginning 
of  life  ;  and  in  the  eighteenth  week — and  perhaps  earlier 
— there  are  nights  of  ten  to  eleven  hours  without  the 
taking  of  any  nourishment  at  all.  Great  differences 
exist,  to  be  sure,  among  perfectly  healthy  infants  in  this 
respect.  Still,  it  is  true  of  all  that  they  are  hungry 
more  frequently  at  the  beginning  of  life  than  in  the 
second,  and  certainly  in  the  third,  quarter  of  the  first 
year.  If  one  busies  himself  too  much  with  the  child, 
allows  too  many  new  sense  impressions  to  act  upon  him, 
brings  too  much  strain  on  his  attention,  then  hunger 
arrives  unseasonably,  accompanied  with  crying,  although 
during  "  play  " — that  is,  in  my  case,  during  my  observa- 
tion of  the  child,  and  my  experiments  upon  him — his 
cheerfulness  may  have  been  undisturbed.  This  sudden 
access  of  fretfulness  and  hunger  I  have  often  observed, 
and,  indeed,  even  from  the  sixth  week  on.  Later,  how- 
ever, viz.,  in  the  eighth  and  ninth  months,  the  craving 
for  food  was  less  and  less  manifested  by  crying,  and  was 
often  expressed  by  a  peculiar  cooing  (Girreii)  with  the 
mouth  shut  tight.  This  cooing,  joined  with  movements 
of  the  larynx,  always  bore  the  character  of  desire,  even 
for  those  who  were  not  acquainted  with  its  significance. 


156  THE   MIND   OF   THE   CHILD. 

It  does  not  seem  to  appear  in  many  children.  The  ori- 
gin of  it  is  quite  obscure.  The  child  made  the  strange 
sound  only  when  hungry,  when  he  saw  the  food  directly 
before  him,  which  he  could  not  at  once  take,  because  it 
was  perhaps  still  too  hot  or  not  warm  enough. 

Notwithstanding  the  fact  that  the  feeling  of  hunger 
is  by  far  the  strongest  of  all  the  feelings  of  the  new-born 
and  of  the  quite  young  infant,  as  appears  from  his  whole 
behavior,  yet  it  would  be  an  error  to  suppose  this  feel- 
ing to  be  capable  of  producing  a  voluntary  movement 
in  the  first  weeks.  I  observed  a  child  that,  on  the 
fourth  and  sixth  days,  obstinately  refused,  in  spite  of 
seven  hours'  abstinence  from  food,  to  take  the  left 
breast,  whereas  it  took  the  right  gladly  every  .  time, 
because  the  left  was  not  so  convenient  for  sucking, 
though  it  supplied  milk  enough.  But  even  with  the 
very  convenient  artificial  nipple,  this  breast  was  often 
declined,  and  on  the  nineteenth  day  persistently,  even 
after  a  fast  of  six  to  seven  hours.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  child  sucked  a  long  time  at  the  skin  near  the  nipple, 
then  cried,  and  finally  fell  asleep,  tired  out  with  its  vain 
effort.  Manifestly  in  this  by  no  means  solitary  instance 
the  hunger  is  indeed  great,  but  the  knowledge  that  it 
might  easily  be  appeased  does  not  exist ;  and  does  not 
exist  for  this  reason,  because,  at  the  first  attempt  to  suck 
on  the  left  side,  the  child's  experience  was  that  sucking 
was  not  so  easy  there  as  on  the  right.  That  this  dis- 
crimination could  be  made  so  early  as  the  fourth  day  of 
life  is  just  as  remarkable  as  the  persistence  with  which 
it  was  held  to  by  the  infant,  who  regarded  the  difference 
as  still  existing  in  all  following  trials,  even  when  the 
greatest  convenience  was  attained. 


THE  EARLIEST  ORGANIC  SENSATIONS  AND  EMOTIONS.  157 

4.  The  Peeling  of  Satiety. 

Opposed  in  every  respect  to  the  expressions  of  the 
feeling  of  hunger  and  of  thirst  are  the  expressions  of 
the  feeling  of  satiety  in  the  infant.  The  same  food  and 
source  of  food  that  were  before  desired  with  the  great- 
est eagerness  are  now  abhorred.  When  the  child  has 
sucked  enough  at  the  breast  that  yields  milk  in  great 
abundance,  so  that  his  stomach  is  full,  then  he  actually 
pushes  the  nipple  away  with  his  lips  (third  to  fifth 
week).  Just  so,  the  child  pushes  out  the  mouth-piece 
of  the  nursing-bottle  when  he  has  sucked  at  it  (fourth 
week).  In  the  seventh  month  I  plainly  saw  that  the 
mouth-piece  wTas  vigorously  thrust  out  with  the  tongue, 
almost  with  disgust.  The  head  had  already  been  turned 
away  some  time  before,  after  the  child  had  nursed  abun- 
dantly. These  movements  are  to  be  regarded  as  sure 
signs  of  the  presence  of  the  feeling  of  satiety.  Other 
signs  besides  are  early  added  to  these. 

As  early  as  the  tenth  day,  when  the  child  had  fallen 
asleep  after  eating  his  fill,  I  saw  his  mouth  unmistak- 
ably take  on  the  form  of  a  smile,  by  which  the  ex- 
pression of  great  satisfaction  was  imparted  to  the  coun- 
tenance. Later,  this  was  frequently  perceived.  In 
the  fourth  week  were  added  still  other  signs  of  the 
highest  satisfaction,  between  the  close  of  the  child's 
feeding  and  the  beginning  of  sleep :  laughing,  opening 
the  eyes,  then  half-shutting  them,  inarticulate  sounds, 
in  which  every  person,  even  those  who  did  not  see  the 
child,  discerned  satisfaction.  In  the  first  months,  and 
even  in  the  eighth,  the  expressions  of  pleasure  and  of 
discomfort  are  the  most  pronounced  when  the  feeling 


-[58  TIIE   MIND   0F   THE   CHILD. 

of  satiety  has  come  or  just  before.  The  appeasing  of 
hunger  is  the  greatest  pleasure ;  the  increase  of  the 
feeling  of  hunger  and  of  the  feeling  of  thirst,  which  is 
not  yet  separated  from  that  of  hunger,  is  the  greatest 
discomfort  for  the  healthy  infant. 

Yet  I  have  not  been  able  in  any  case  to  attain  the 
conviction  that  the  infant  is  as  yet  capable,  as  Kuss- 
maul  thinks,  of  feeling  nausea.  Neither  overfullness 
nor  vomiting,  neither  the  greatest  uncleanliness  nor  the 
most  repulsive,  foul  smell,  calls  forth  in  the  child  in  the 
earliest  period  the  physiognomy  associated  with  the 
feeling  of  nausea.  The  repugnance  to  bitter  substances 
may,  as  Genzmer  rightly  observes,  express  itself  even 
without  that  feeling,  although  the  corresponding  de- 
fensive reflexes  in  the  adult  are  accustomed  to  be  asso- 
ciated with  that  feeling. 

5.  The  Feeling  of  Fatigue. 

In  spite  of  the  lethargy  of  the  newly-born  or  of  the 
infant,  it  might  seem  doubtful  whether  he  is  easily 
fatigued,  because  he  apparently  makes  but  little  effort, 
mental  or  physical.  A  closer  consideration  shows,  how- 
ever, that  several  causes  of  fatigue  must  be  operative 
directly  after  birth ;  that  a  feeling  of  weariness  may 
come  soon  after  that  event ;  and  that  the  physiological 
lethargy  of  the  infant  is  connected  with  that  feeling. 

For  the  waking  condition  there  is  need  of  stimuli — 
i.  e.,  excitations  of  the  sensory  nerves.  Now,  if  these 
nerves  are  but  little  excitable,  as  is  the  case  before  birth, 
and  if  few  stimuli  are  present,  then  the  opposite  of  wak- 
ing— viz.,  sleep — will  be  persistent  and  sound.  But 
when  after  birth  the  excitability  of  the  nerves  and  the 


THE  EARLIEST  ORGANIC  SENSATIONS  AND  EMOTIONS.   159 

number  of  the  stimuli  are  increased,  by  the  very  open- 
ing of  the  eyes  and  ears  and  the  activity  of  the  nerves 
of  the  skin,  then  sleep  is  interrupted.  The  longer  this 
interruption  lasts,  the  greater  must  be  the  accumulation 
of  the  products  of  the  activity  of  the  central  and  periph- 
eral portions  of  the  organs  of  sense,  on  the  one  hand, 
and  on  the  other  hand  of  the  muscles,  which  contract 
more  strongly  and  more  frequently  in  the  waking  con- 
dition than  in  sleep.  Now,  these  materials  of  fatigue, 
as  I  have  attempted  to  show  in  my  treatise  on  the 
causes  of  sleep  (u  Uber  die  Ursachen  des  Schlafes," 
Stuttgart,  1877),  hinder  prolonged  waking,  because  they 
withdraw7  from  the  blood  the  oxygen  required  for  activ- 
ity, in  order  to  unite  themselves  with  it,  so  that  they 
may  be  oxidized,  and  finally  expelled.  What  are  the 
substances  formed  through  the  activity  of  the  muscles 
and  the  brain,  and  inducing  the  feeling  of  fatigue,  we 
have  yet  to  ascertain. 

In  the  new-born  and  the  infant,  whose  muscles  in 
and  of  themselves  are  but  little  serviceable,  and  resem- 
ble the  muscles  of  tired  adults,  as  Soltmann  proved  by 
comparative  experiments  upon  animals,  there  are  two 
actions  especially  that  require  strong  muscular  effort — 
viz.,  crying  and  sucking.  The  crying  of  the  hungry 
child  is  a  sign  of  the  waking  condition  that  quickly 
produces  wreariness.  For,  let  the  child  have  his  cry  out, 
and  he  usually  falls  asleep  soon,  even  without  having 
been  fed.  Sucking  at  a  breast  that  contains  little  milk 
is  likewise  tiresome ;  and  I  repeatedly  within  the  first 
three  months  saw  sleep  take  possession  of  the  child 
while  he  was  sucking  thus  at  a  scanty  breast  of  the 
nurse ;  and  the  sucking  was  frequently  interrupted  by 


160  THE   MIND   OF   THE   CHILD. 

long  intervals,  even  when  the  child  must  have  been 
hungry. 

Then  there  is  the  fatigue  of  the  organs  of  sense. 
After  the  first  two  or  three  weeks  are  past,  so  that  the 
attention  can  begin  to  be  directed  to  something  else 
than  the  milk,  manifold  changing  impressions  of  light 
and  sound,  along  with  strong,  cutaneous  stimuli  through 
touch  and  temperature  from  the  beginning,  act  with 
rapidly  fatiguing  power  upon  the  infant,  especially 
when  his  relatives  busy  themselves  too  much  with  him. 
Thus,  with  my  boy  the  hearing  of  piano-playing,  in  his 
eighth  week,  was  followed  by  an  unbroken  sleep  of  six 
hours,  whereas  up  to  that  time  sleep  had  not  once  lasted 
so  long. 

But  the  weariness  brought  on  by  crying,  sucking, 
manifold  sense-impressions,  is  hardly  sufficient  to  ac- 
count for  the  brief  duration  of  the  waking  periods  in 
the  first  half-year,  even  if  we  make  the  largest  allow- 
ance for  the  movements  of  the  extremities,  and  add  to 
that  the  labor  performed  by  the  respiratory  muscles  and 
by  the  heart.  There  must  be  still  another  cause  that 
produces  sleep,  inasmuch  as  under  normal  conditions 
the  greater  part  of  the  first  two  years  of  human  life  is 
actually  spent  in  sleep.  This  other  cause  is,  probably, 
the  relatively  smaller  supply  of  oxygen  (on  account  of 
the  smaller  cpiantity  of  blood  and  the  less  energy  of  the 
respiratory  process)  and  the  need  of  oxygen  for  growth  ; 
so  that,  on  the  one  hand,  less  wTork  is  done  and  less 
warmth  is  produced  ;  on  the  other  hand,  less  oxygen  can 
be  spared  for  keeping  up  the  change  of  matter  in  the 
ganglionic  cells  during  the  waking  hours.  We  must 
also  take  into  account  the  character  of  the  food,  wdiich 


THE   EARLIEST  ORGANIC  SENSATIONS  AND   EMOTIONS.  161 

regularly  consists  uniformly  of  milk  alone  in  the  period 
of  much  sleep.  Milk  and  whey  in  large  quantities  ex- 
ert a  somnific  influence  even  upon  adults.  They  con- 
tain sugar  of  milk,  which,  in  the  stomach  produces  lac- 
tic acid.  This  unites  in  the  intestines  with  alkali,  and 
thus  after  every  meal  larger  quantities,  relatively,  of 
lactates  must  enter  the  blood  in  the  infant  than  in  the 
adult.  These  become  oxidized,  and  thereby  withdraw 
from  the  brain,  according  to  the  above-mentioned  theory 
of  sleep,  in  great  measure  the  oxygen  required  for  the 
waking  condition,  and  for  this  reason,  perhaps,  the  in- 
fant regularly  falls  asleep  not  long  after  each  abundant 
supply  of  milk.  The  milk  may  also  contain  somnific ' 
materials  from  the  blood  of  the  mother.  Finally,  the 
almost  uninterrupted  act  of  digestion  of  the  milk, 
scarcely  ever  discontinued  more  than  two  hours  at  a 
time,  may,  by  collecting  blood  in  the  vessels  of  the  di- 
gestive organs,  withdraw  from  the  brain  temporarily, 
larger  quantities  of  blood  (which  are  necessary  for  the 
waking  condition). 

With  these  hypotheses  accords  the  universal  experi- 
ence that  in  the  first  three  months  the  duration  of  the 
period  of  sleep  between  two  meals  is  much  shorter  than 
in  the  second  three  months,  and  that  it  continually  in- 
creases. At  first  the  period  of  digestion  is  shorter  than 
it  is  afterward,  on  account  of  the  smallness  of  the  stom- 
ach. I  found  the  sleep  of  the  infant  the  sounder  and 
more  lasting,  the  more  concentrated  the  milk  was,  other 
circumstances  being  the  same.  Mother's  milk,  abun- 
dant and  good,  produces  a  sounder  and  longer  sleep 
than  diluted  milk  of  the  cow,  or  scanty  milk  of  the  wet- 
nurse.     But  even  if  the  mother's  milk  be  given  exclu- 


162  THE   MIND   OF   TIIE   CHILD. 

sively,  the  periods  of  sleep  are  shorter  than  in  the  first 
weeks,  the  waking  more  frequent  than  later ;  yet  the 
whole  time  spent  in  sleep  is  longer.  The  frequent 
waking  is  doubtless  favored  by  other  causes  than  hun- 
ger, especially  by  the  greater  uncleanliness  of  the  early 
period;  and  by  wet — that  is,  by  cutaneous  irritation. 

The  notes  I  wrote  down  concerning  the  duration  of 
sleep  in  the  case  of  my  boy  show  clearly  the  decrease 
of  the  duration  of  sleep  as  a  whole,  and  the  increase  of 
duration  of  the  single  period  of  sleep,  from  the  first 
day  until  the  close  of  the  third  year.  I  extract  the  fol- 
lowing particulars : 

In  the  first  month  sleep  lasted  without  interruption 
not  often  longer  than  two  hours ;  but  of  the  twenty- 
four  hours,  sixteen  at  least,  and  generally  much  more, 
were  spent  in  sleep. 

In  the  second  month,  a  three-hours'  sleep  often  ap- 
peared ;  now  and  then  a  sleep  of  five  to  six  hours. 

In  the  third  month  the  child  often  sleeps  four  hours, 
frequently  even  five  in  succession,  without  waking. 

In  the  fourth  month,  the  sleep  often  lasts  five  to 
six  hours  ;  the  intervals  between  the  times  of  eating, 
three  and  four  hours  (against  two  hours  at  an  earlier 
period).     Once  the  sleep  lasted  nine  hours. 

In  the  sixth  month,  a  sleep  of  six  to  eight  hours  is 
not  infrequent. 

In  the  eighth  month,  restless  nights,  on  account  of 
teething. 

In  the  thirteenth  month,  as  a  rale,  fourteen  hours 
of  sleep  daily,  in  several  separate  periods. 

In  the  seventeenth  month,  prolonged  sleep  began ; 
ten  hours,  without  interruption. 


TOE  EARLIEST  ORGANIC   SENSATIONS  AND  EMOTIONS.  1G3 

In  the  twentieth  month,  prolonged  sleep  became 
habitual,  and  sleep  in  the  daytime  was  reduced  to  two 
hours. 

From  the  thirty-seventh  month  on,  the  night's  sleep 
lasted  regularly  eleven  to  twelve  hours,  and  sleep  in  the 
daytime  was  no  longer  required. 

Thus,  from  the  fourth  year,  the  waking  period  is 
longer  than  that  of  sleep,  and  sleepiness  does  not  come 
on  so  quickly  as  before.  The  child,  when  walking,  no 
longer  says,  "swer"  ("  schwer  ")  for  "miide"  (tired), 
as  he  often  did  in  the  third  year;  and  although  the 
feeling  of  weariness  sometimes  asserts  itself,  yet  drow- 
siness and  sleep  no  longer  follow  directly  upon  it.  The 
unwearied  springing  and  running  of  older  children  is 
well  known.  The  varied  food  taken  at  present,  as  con- 
trasted with  the  milk-diet  of  an  earlier  period,  unques- 
tionably contributes  to  this,  but  chiefly  the  increased 
functional  ability  of  the  respiratory  apparatus,  of  the 
blood,  of  the  muscles,  and  ganglionic  cells.  The  sleep 
itself  is  now  in  general  more  quiet,  inasmuch  as  dreams, 
accompanied  by  movements  and  outcries,  no  longer 
occur  so  often. 

I  consider  it  as  exceedingly  important  in  the  case  of 
little  children  not  to  interrupt  sleep  artificially — to  give 
them  milk,  it  may  be — and  not  to  wake  larger  chil- 
dren either.  By  waking  them  a  condition  of  real  dis- 
tress, accompanied  with  trembling  and  convulsions,  is 
easily  induced  in  perfectly  healthy  children,  and  a  last- 
ing depression  of  spirits  generated.  I  know  of  no  ad- 
vantage to  the  child  from  being  waked.  It  ought  the 
more  to  be  avoided,  inasmuch  as  almost  invariably  a 
fright  is  given  to  the  child,  and  all  fright  is  absolutely 


164  THE  MIND  OF  THE  CHILD. 

harmful,  whether  caused  by  harsh  address,  or  by  threat- 
ening the  child  with  the  "  black  man,"  so  called,  or  by 
catching  the  child,  pouring  water  on  him,  and  the  like, 
in  the  way  of  fun.  Older  children  like  to  show  their 
superiority  to  younger  ones  by  such  misdeeds,  and  even 
ignorant  nurses  not  seldom  adopt  such  means.  Thereby 
they  arouse  timidity,  which  may  easily  be  increased  by 
grewsome  stories  ("  grausige  Geschichten  ")  and  foolish 
tales,  and  then  it  leads  early  to  a  morbid  excitability. 

6.  Fear. 

The  time  at  which  a  child  first  betrays  fear  depends 
essentially  upon  his  treatment,  in  so  far  as  the  avoid- 
ance of  occasions  of  pain  prolongs  the  period  that  is 
marked  by  unconsciousness  of  fear;  whereas  the  multi- 
plication of  such  occasions  shortens  the  period. 

There  is,  however,  an  hereditary  timidity,  which 
manifests  itself  as  opportunity  offers.  How  happens  it 
that  many  children  are  afraid  of  dogs,  pigs,  and  cats, 
before  they  know  the  dangerous  qualities  of  these  ani- 
mals ?  A  little  girl  was  afraid  of  cats  as  early  as  the 
fourteenth  week  of  life  (Sigismund).  Thunder  makes 
many  children  cry — for  what  reason  % 

If  there  is  in  this  case  the  co  operation  of  ideas, 
either  clear  or  obscure,  of  danger,  or  of  reminiscences 
of  pain  after  a  noisy  fall,  or  of  disagreeable  sensations 
at  loud  rumbling  and  the  like  (I  observed  that  my  child 
in  his  second  year  cried  with  fear  almost  every  time 
that  heavy  furniture  was  pushed  about),  yet  in  the  ex- 
pressions of  fear  on  the  part  of  inexperienced  animals 
factors  of  this  sort  are  excluded. 

A  hen  with  her  first  brood,  about  a  week  old,  was 


THE  EARLIEST  ORGANIC  SENSATIONS  AND   EMOTIONS.   1G5 

frightened  by  Douglas  Spalding,  who  let  fly  a  young 
hawk.  "  In  the  twinkling  of  an  eye  most  of  the  chick- 
ens were  hid  among  grass  and  bushes";  and  when  the 
bird  of  prey  touched  the  ground,  at  a  distance  of  twelve 
yards  from  the  hen,  the  hen  attacked  it,  and  would  un- 
doubtedly have  killed  it.  I  have  repeated  this  experi- 
ment. A  young  kestrel,  very  lively,  as  large  as  a  do- 
mestic cock,  was  by  me  held  by  the  wings  and  brought 
near  to  thirty-three  chickens,  three  and  a  half  weeks 
old,  hatched  in  the  incubator  and  raised  in  an  inclosed 
space,  without  intercourse  with  other  fowls.  At  first 
they  did  not  appear  to  notice  the  bird.  But  as  soon  as 
they  heard  its  voice,  they  all  became  still  and  attentive, 
and  moved  but  little.  Then  I  let  the  falcon  loose  :  in- 
stantly the  chickens  scattered  in  all  directions,  and  con- 
cealed themselves.  How,  except  through  inheritance, 
did  the  chicks  arrive  at  the  point  of  hiding  themselves 
at  seeing  and  hearing  the  falcon  %  They  had  never  seen 
it  or  its  like  before,  and  a  mother  could  not  have  de- 
scribed it  to  her  offspring.  But  when,  after  a  long 
interval,  I  let  a  pigeon,  instead  of  a  falcon,  fly  away 
over  the  thirty-three  chickens,  they  were  just  as  much 
frightened ;  they  scattered  and  hid  themselves.  On 
the  other  hand,  they  were  not  in  the  least  frightened  at 
their  first  sight  of  a  hen  which  cackled  loudly.  The 
hereditary  enemy  must  therefore  be  known  through  in- 
born memory.  Yet  I  will  not  conceal  that  I  do  not 
regard  the  experiments,  or  this  inference  from  them,  as 
sufficiently  conclusive  (the  check  experiment  with  the 
pigeon  prevents  that),  although  no  imitation  by  the 
chicks  of  the  behavior  of  a  hen  was  possible.     When  I 

put  a  kitten  into  a  box  in  which  there  were  eighteen 
13 


1(3(5  THE   MIND   OF   THE   CHILD. 

chickens  not  yet  four  hours  old  and  two  about  twenty 
hours  old,  not  one  of  the  chicks  made  the  least  move- 
ment of  flight.  Even  after  the  kitten  had  bitten  a 
chicken,  had  been  taken  away,  and  afterward  put  into 
the  box  with  the  twenty  chickens  again,  there  was  no 
stir  at  all  among  them ;  the  one  that  had  been  bitten 
did  not  even  turn  away.  The  same  thing  took  place 
on  the  third  day.  A  turkey  ten  days  old  behaved  as 
the  chickens  did  in  the  above  experiments.  When  he 
heard  the  voice  of  the  hawk  for  the  first  time,  and  close 
to  him,  he  "  shot  like  an  arrow  to  the  other  side  of  the 
room,  and  stood  there,  motionless  and  dumb  with  fear," 
for  ten  minutes,  as  Spalding  reports.  Chickens  show 
unmistakable  signs  of  fear  in  regard  to  bees  also  as  a 
general  thing,  according  to  him,  although  they  have  not 
been  stung.  They  bring  the  timidity  with  them,  then, 
from  the  egg,  as  an  hereditary  property.  Yet  against 
this  inference  it  might  be  urged  that  every  sudden, 
strong  sense-impression  elicits  the  same  symptoms  as  do 
the  impressions  that  excite  fear.  The  behavior  of  the 
inexperienced  chickens  was  the  same  at  the  sudden  ap- 
pearance of  the  dove  as  at  the  cry  and  the  approach  of 
the  falcon.  But  when  I  let  the  latter  loose  among  a 
great  number  of  fowls  that  were  busily  pecking,  the 
warning  cry  of  the  cock  at  once  sounded ;  and  when 
the  falcon  made  toward  a  hen,  they  all  flew  off,  except 
one  that  prepared  to  attack  the  bird  of  prey.  A  pea- 
hen did  the  same  thing  directly  afterward.  We  see 
from  this  that  fear  and  courage  are  very  unequally  dis- 
tributed among  creatures  of  the  same  kind.  Timidity 
and  bravery  are  accordingly  to  be  admitted  as  heredi- 
tary qualities. 


: 


THE   EARLIEST  ORGANIC  SENSATIONS  AND  EMOTIONS.   167 

The  case  must  be  similar  in  the  human  child,  who  is 
afraid  of  all  sorts  of  things  not  at  all  dangerous,  as  well 
as  of  things  really  dangerous,  before  he  knows  danger  of 
himself,  and  before  he  can  be  infected  by  the  timidity 
of  mother  or  nurse.  It  is  altogether  wrong  to  maintain 
that  a  child  has  no  fear  unless  it  has  been  taught  him 
The  courage  or  the  fear  of  the  mother  has  indeed  ex- 
traordinary influence  upon  the  child,  to  the  extent  that 
courageous  mothers  certainly  have  courageous  children, 
and  timid  mothers  have  timid  children,  through  imita- 
tion ;  but  there  are  so  many  cases  of  timidity  and  of 
courage  in  the  child,  without  any  occasion  of  that  sort, 
that  we  must  take  into  account,  as  in  the  case  of  ani- 
mals, an  element  lying  further  back,  hereditary.  Thus, 
Champneys  observed  (1881)  that  his  boy,  when  about 
nine  months  old,  showed  signs  of  fear  for  the  first  time, 
becoming  attentive  to  any  unusual  noise  in  a  distant 
part  of  the  room,  opening  his  eyes  very  wide  and  begin- 
ning to  cry.  A  month  or  so  later  this  child  had  a  toy 
given  him,  that  squeaked  when  it  was  squeezed.  The 
child  at  once  screamed,  and  screamed  afterward  again 
and  again,  when  it  was  offered  to  him.  But  after  some 
time  he  became  accustomed  to  the  squeaking ;  then  he 
was  pleased  by  it,  and  would  himself  make  the  toy 
squeak. 

Among  the  observations  that  I  made  on  my  boy,  a 
boy  not  particularly  timid  in  his  fourth  year,  but  rather 
one  who  would  defend  himself  against  two  or  three 
older  children  together,  are  some  that  certainly  are  not 
to  be  referred  to  imitation,  as  the  fear  of  machines  and 
of  small  animals  when  near. 

In  the  ninth  month  I  observed  him  for  the  first 


168  THE  MIND  OF  THE  CHILD. 

time  crying,  turning  away,  and  drawing  back  from  fear, 
when  a  small  dog  barked  at  the  nurse,  who  was  carry- 
ing my  child  on  her  arm.  The  same  thing  happened 
just  a  hundred  days  afterward,  and  again  in  the  seven- 
teenth month.  In  the  second  quarter  of  the  third  year 
the  fear  of  all  dogs  is  very  conspicuous,  although  the 
child  has  never  been  bitten  by  such  an  animal,  and,  so 
far  as  can  be  determined,  has  never  seen  a  dog  bite  a 
child.  Even  in  the  thirty-third  month,  his  crying  at 
the  approach  of  even  the  smallest  dog,  of  a  few  weeks 
old,  is  remarkable.  Yet  soon  after  this  period  the 
timidity  wTas  gradually  overcome,  and  on  one  occasion 
the  child,  in  my  presence,  actually  took  an  apple  out  of 
the  teeth  of  the  dog,  which  had  taken  it  away  from 
him. 

How  little  this  fear  of  dogs,  so  late  to  be  overcome, 
was  a  result  of  education,  appears  from  the  behavior 
of  the  child  toward  other  small  animals.  To  give  pleas- 
ure to  him,  when  he  was  two  and  a  quarter  years  old,  a 
number  of  very  young  pigs  were  shown  to  him.  He  at 
once  became  serious  at  the  sight.  But,  when  the  queer 
creatures  proceeded  to  suck  at  the  teats  of  the  mother 
that  lay  there  perfectly  quiet,  then  the  child  began  to 
scream,  to  shed  tears,  to  cling,  and  to  turn  away  with 
fright.  He  thought,  as  it  afterward  appeared,  that  the 
sucking  pigs  were  biting  the  mother.  That  he  should 
himself  be  thrown  into  a  state  of  genuine  fear  every 
time  he  was  brought  near  them  is  the  more  strange,  as 
they  were  all  shut  up  in  a  pen  with  a  high,  strong  fence 
about  it.  This  fear  became  so  great  in  the  course  of  the 
fourth  and  fifth  years  in  my  child  that  he  sometimes  cried 
out  in  the  night,  and  imagined  that  a  pig  was  going  to  bite 


THE  EARLIEST  ORGANIC  SENSATIONS  AND  EMOTIONS.   169 

him.  He  seemed  to  see  the  animal  as  if  it  were  actually 
there,  and  he  could  not  be  convinced  that  it  was  not 
there,  even  after  his  bed  was  brightly  lighted  up.  The 
explanation  offered  by  Heyfelder  for  similar  cases  may 
apply  to  some.  He  supposes  that  when  children  cry 
out  in  falling  asleep,  and  believe  themselves  to  be  bitten 
by  a  dog,  a  sudden  jerk  of  the  leg  or  arm  occasions  a 
feeling  out  of  which  the  imagination  constructs  the  ani- 
mal. But  when  a  child  that  is  sleeping  in  perfect  quiet 
suddenly  cries  out,  "  Go  away,  pig !  "  and  this  without 
waking,  we  must  assume  that  the  dream-image  appears 
without  any  external  movement.  A  little  girl  was  so 
afraid  of  doves  in  the  seventeenth  week  and  in  the 
eleventh  month  that  she  could  not  make  up  her  mind 
to  stroke  them ;  in  the  thirteenth  month  she  ventured 
to  stroke  a  dove,  but  immediately  drew  back  her  hand ; 
in  the  fourteenth  month  her  fear  was  overcome. 

Just  as  remarkable  as  this  fear  of  animals  is  the  fear 
of  falling  at  the  first  attempt  to  walk.  Although  the 
child  never  had  fallen,  so  far  as  could  be  determined, 
he  did  not  dare,  in  the  fourteenth  month,  when  he  could 
not  yet  go  alone,  to  take  a  step  without  support,  and 
became  fearful  if  he  was  not  held.  The  child  had  be- 
fore this  bruised  himself  repeatedly,  but  in  this  case 
he  cried  from  fear  of  falling,  without  having  had  the 
experience  of  being  bumped  in  falling. 

Two  more  examples :  In  the  sixteenth  month  my 
child  was  afraid  (to  my  surprise,  for  I  thought  to  please 
him)  when  I  drew  tones  of  high  pitch  from  a  drinking- 
glass  by  rubbing  with  the  ringer,  as  I  had  done  once  at 
an  earlier  period  (p.  47).  His  fear,  which  did  not 
at  that  time — in  the  third  month — appear,  now  increased 


170  THE   MIND   OF   THE   CHILD. 

to  the  point  of  shedding  tears,  whereas  the  ring  of  the 
glasses  when  struck  was  greeted  with  a  cry  of  joy.  Did 
the  unusual  tone  in  the  sixteenth  month  seem  uncanny  on 
account  of  ignorance  of  the  cause?  Yet  the  same  child 
laughed  at  the  thunder  and  lightning  (in  the  eighteenth 
and  nineteenth  months) ;  another  child  even  in  the 
thirty-fifth  month  did  the  same,  and  imitated  cleverly 
with  the  hand  the  zigzag  movement  of  the  lightning 
(Gustav  Lindner). 

In  the  twenty-first  month  my  child  showed  every 
sign  of  fear  when  his  nurse  carried  him  on  her  arm  close 
by  the  sea  (in  Scheveningen).  He  began  to  whimper, 
and  I  saw  that  he  clung  tighter  with  both  hands,  even 
during  a  calm  and  at  ebb-tide  when  there  was  but  a 
slight  dashing  of  the  waves.  Whence  the  fear  of  the 
sea,  which  the  child  is  not  acquainted  with  ?  The  water 
of  the  Eider  Canal,  of  the  Saale,  of  the  Rhine,  he  was 
not  in  the  least  afraid  of  in  the  same  year.  The  great- 
ness of  the  sea  could  not  of  itself  excite  fear,  for  the 
symptoms  of  dread  were  shown  only  close  by  the  water. 
"Was  it,  then,  the  roaring  heard  in  advance  ? 

The  fear  of  persons  in  black,  too  (seventeenth 
month),  even  when  they  are  friendly,  as  well  as  the 
fear  of  a  deep  voice,  of  masked  faces,  of  strange  faces 
(Frau  von  Striimpell),  (in  the  seventh  month  and  in 
the  twenty-fourth  week),  is  not  derived  from  educa- 
tion (Herr  Ed.  Schulte).  It  expresses  itself  in  this 
way :  The  infant  cries  at  the  sight  of  strangers  or  at 
hearing  strange  voices,  a  thing  he  did  not  do  in  the  first 
three  months.  On  the  other  hand,  the  fear  of  punish- 
ment— a  fear  that  has  been  bred  in  him — appearing 
in  the  second  year,  may  easily  be  distinguished  from 


THE  EARLIEST   ORGANIC  SENSATIONS  AND  EMOTIONS.   171 

natural  dread.  The  child  that  for  the  first  time 
disobeys  a  well-known  prohibition  does  not  cry,  or 
tremble,  or  cling  closer,  or  cower  down,  but  he  tries 
to  get  away.  The  fear  of  being  chastised,  however 
often  it  appears,  through  many  successive  genera- 
tions, in  the  same  form,  at  the  same  age,  is  always  ac- 
quired anew.  A  proof  of  this  I  find,  as  do  others,  in 
the  fact  that  my  child  is  not  in  the  least  afraid  in  the 
dark,  no  doubt  for  the  reason  that  he  has  never  been 
punished  by  being  shut  up  in  a  dark  place. 

How  the  special  symptoms  of  fear,  e.  g.,  the  charac- 
teristic trembling,  are  developed,  is  wholly  unknown. 
It  is  asserted,  in  regard  to  little  children,  that  they  can 
not  tremble  (in  fact,  Darwin  says  this).  But  children 
just  born,  and  those  of  four  years,  can  tremble,  as 
I  have  myself  perceived.  A  perfectly  healthy  child,  of 
good  weight,  not  yet  a  quarter  of  an  hour  old,  trembled 
almost  incessantly,  sometimes  more,  sometimes  less,  dur- 
ing my  observation,  although  it  was  comfortably  warm 
in  the  room  (in  the  lying-in  hospital).  The  child  had 
already  had  a  warm  bath.  Many  just-born  children,  to 
be  sure,  do  not  tremble. 

Many  new-born  animals — dogs,  mice,  rabbits,  Guinea- 
pigs,  and  chickens,  which  I  have  often  observed  in  re- 
gard to  this  point — tremble  in  a  warm  nest.  But  they 
have  not  at  first  the  least  fear  at  being  laid  hold  of  with 
the  hand.  The  behavior  of  the  chicken  hatched  in  the 
incubator  is  very  different  in  the  first  days  of  its  life 
from  what  it  is  afterward ;  in  the  following  days  you 
have  often  the  greatest  difficulty  in  catching  it.  In  the 
beginning  it  does  not  run  away,  though  it  knows  how 
to  run  well  enough  ;  but  later  it  runs  away  invariably. 


172  THE   MIXD    OF   THE   CHILD. 

Bird-dogs  are  likewise  entirely  without  fear  of  man  at 
the  beginning  of  life,  even  after  they  can  see.  But, 
after  they  have  once  become  acquainted  with  the  whip, 
they  manifest  fear  of  man  in  the  most  marked  manner — 
badger-dogs,  in  individual  cases,  in  a  striking  degree, 
as  Romanes  reports,  without  their  having  ever  been 
whipped,  so  far  as  appears.  How  inherited  endowment 
is  united  here  with  individual  experience  we  can  not  at 
present  say,  for  lack  of  facts.  But  that  fear  of  man  is 
not  originally  present,  but  is  introduced  into  many  ani- 
mals in  common  by  inoculation  through  man's  own 
agency,  appears  from  the  behavior  of  many  animals, 
which  in  the  wilderness  unvisited  by  man  are  not  in 
the  least  shy,  whereas  their  fellows  of  the  same  species, 
where  they  are  hunted,  hide  themselves  wTith  the  great- 
est caution,  or  flee,  even  when  they  are  not  pursued,  if 
they  get  scent  of  human  beings.  Of  the  graceful  pha- 
laropes,  especially,  I  know  this  to  be  true,  from  per- 
sonal observation.  They  have  no  fear  at  all  of  man  in 
the  uninhabited  interior  of  Iceland,  where  I  frequently 
observed  them,  whereas  on  the  inhabited  coast  they  are 
anything  but  tame. 

So,  with  man  also,  it  is,  on  the  one  hand,  ignorance 
of  danger,  on  the  other  hand,  the  becoming  accustomed 
to  it,  that  makes  him  fearless. 

7.   Astonishment. 

It  is  exceedingly  difficult  to  determine  the  moment 
when  a  human  being  is  for  the  first  time  in  his  life  as- 
tonished. Surprise,  which  manifests  itself  by  a  reflex 
movement  of  the  arms,  and  that  in  the  first  week,  after 
a  sudden  loud  noise,  is  essentially  different  from  aston- 


THE  EARLIEST  ORGANIC  SENSATIONS  AND  EMOTIONS.   173 

ishment.  And  tbe  great  concentration  of  aMention  that 
the  infant  bestows  on  his  own  lingers,  after  he  has  be- 
gun his  attempts  at  touching  and  seizing  (in  the  fourth 
and  fifth  months),  is  different  from  the  state  of  being 
overpowered  by  a  high  degree  of  astonishment  at  some 
new  impression.  But  precisely  at  this  period  I  could, 
not  seldom,  distinguish  accurately  the  astonishment  of 
the  infant  from  that  strain  of  attention — and  this  in  the 
twenty-second  week.  When  the  child  was  in  a  railway- 
carriage,  and  I  suddenly  entered  after  a  brief  separation, 
so  that  at  the  same  moment  he  saw  my  face  and  heard  my 
voice,  he  lixed  his  gaze  upon  me  for  more  than  a  min- 
ute, with  open  mouth  (the  lower  jaw  dropped),  with 
wide-open,  motionless  eyes,  and  in  other  respects  abso- 
lutely immovable,  exhibiting  the  typical  image  of  as- 
tonishment. 

Just  so  he  stared  at  a  stranger  (in  the  sixth  and 
seventh  months),  who  suddenly  entered  the  room,  for 
more  than  a  minute,  motionless,  with  open  mouth  and 
eyes.  In  the  eighth  and  ninth  months  these  symptoms 
seemed  to  be  still  more  pronounced,  and  appeared  not 
unfrequently  at  new  impressions  of  sight  and  sound — 
not  at  new  impressions  of  smell  and  taste — and  in  re- 
markable uniformity.  E.  g.,  the  child  was  thus  aston- 
ished in  the  thirty-first  week  at  the  clapping  together 
of  a  fan ;  in  the  thirty-fourth,  at  an  imitation  of  the 
voices  of  animals  ;  in  the  forty-fourth,  at  a  strange  face 
near ;  in  the  fifty-second,  at  a  new  sound ;  in  the  fifty- 
eighth,  at  a  lantern  (after  waking).  I  do  not  remember 
to  have  perceived  along  with  this  a  raising  of  the  eye- 
brows ;  but  this  may  have  been  overlooked  on  account 
of  its  being  slight  at  this  early  period.     Often,  when  the 


174  THE   MIND   OF   THE   CHILD. 

mouth  was  opened,  an  ah  was  heard.  The  attitude  of 
the  astonished  child  was  in  every  case  that  which  he  had 
in  the  moment  just  before  the  new  impression.  This 
attitude  was  retained,  with  eves  stretched  wide  apart 
and  with  the  mouth  very  widely  open.  But  when  a  less 
degree  of  astonishment  than  in  the  cases  mentioned  was 
felt,  then  in  every  instance  a  pulsation  of  the  eyelid  or 
a  succession  of  such  movements  indicated  wonder ;  the 
eyes,  indeed,  were  opened  wide,  but  not  the  mouth. 

Toward  the  end  of  the  second  year,  the  symptoms 
of  the  highest  degree  of  astonishment  made  their  ap- 
pearance, in  general,  more  seldom  than  before,  espe- 
cially the  dropping  of  the  lower  jaw.  It  took  more, 
therefore,  at  this  time,  to  turn  the  entire  attention  to  a 
single  impression  of  sight  or  hearing  so  powerfully  that 
the  lower  jaw  could  not  be  kept  up.  The  child  had 
been  astonished  too  often,  and  had  become  accustomed 
to  the  once  new  impressions. 

The  whole  behavior  of  the  child  when  astonished  is 
completely  original  with  him,  not  being  in  the  least 
acquired  by  imitation  or  through  training,  for  it  was  in 
the  fifth  month  at  latest  that  his  astonishment  was  of 
the  sort  described.  His  immobility  is  the  consequence 
of  the  sudden,  powerful,  new  impression,  and  resembles 
the  cataplexy  of  animals,  caused  by  the  arrest  of  the 
will  through  fright.  For  particulars,  see  my  treatise  on 
"  Cataplexy  and  Animal  Hypnotism  "  ("  Die  Kataplexie 
und  der  thierische  Hypnotisinus,"  Jena,  1878). 

Individual  animals,  however,  may  be  astonished  at 
new  impressions  without  being  so  frightened  as  to  lose 
their  will  completely.  I  have  repeatedly  seen  a  bird- 
dog  stand  motionless  before  the  stove-door,  in  which 


THE  EARLIEST  ORGANIC  SENSATIONS  AND  EMOTIONS.    175 

there  was  isinglass,  after  the  fire  had  been  kindled, 
staring  at  the  flames  and  hearkening  to  the  blowing 
noise  and  the  crackling.  The  dog  was  astonished,  as  a 
child  is  at  the  tire  in  a  stove,  not  yet  knowing  what 
it  is.  Astonishment  is  certainly  not  an  emotion  pecul- 
iar to  mankind  alone. 

Animals  experience  also  the  mingling  of  fear  and 
astonishment,  just  as  children  do,  especially  when  some 
quite  new  and  incomprehensible  thing  happens.  Ro- 
manes gives  us  (1878)  the  following  observations,  made 
by  himself,  which  he  adduces  as  proofs  that  animals 
form  concepts,  but  which  I  nse  as  proofs  that  fear  and 
astonishment  are  mingled  when  the  understanding  fails 
— i.  e.,  when  insight  into  the  connection  of  new  per- 
ceptions with  old  is  lacking : 

A  dog  was  afraid  of  thunder,  and  became  fright- 
ened when  one  day  a  noise  like  thunder  was  made  in 
the  house  by  pouring  apples  upon  the  floor  of  the  gar- 
ret. But  when  he  was  taken  up  there,  and  had  seen 
what  occasioned  the  uproar,  he  was  again  as  lively  as 
usual.  Horses  that  are  easily  frightened  behave  in  a 
similar  manner,  showing  fear  only  so  long  as  the 
cause  of  a  noise  remains  unknown  to  them. 

Another  dog  was  in  the  habit  of  throwing  dry  bones 
about.  Romanes  one  day  fastened  a  long,  fine  thread 
to  a  bone,  and  while  the  dog  was  playing  with  the  bone 
began  to  draw  this  away  slowly,  standing  apart.  The 
whole  bearing  of  the  dog  changed ;  he  started  aside,  and 
observed  with  terror  how  the  bone  seemed  to  move 
of  itself.  The  same  dog  was  frightened  by  soap-bub- 
bles on  the  floor,  but  touched  one  of  them  with  his  paw, 
and  when  it  vanished  he  ran  away,  manifestly  horrified 


176  THE   MIND   OF   THE   CHILD. 

by  the  incomprehensible  disappearance  of  the  large 
ball. 

In  these  cases,  just  as  in  the  examples  of  the  child 
above  given  (also  p.  150),  want  of  knowledge  generates 
fear,  but  at  the  same  time  the  novelty  of  the  impres- 
sions generates  astonishment.  In  the  first  case,  fear 
came  first  and  disappeared  in  astonishment  at  the  recog- 
nized cause  ;  in  the  second,  both  were  present  together ; 
in  the  third,  astonishment  came  first,  then  fear,  on  ac- 
count of  lack  of  comprehension. 

If  we  were  to  try  these  three  experiments  with  little 
children,  we  should  certainly  find  many  who  would  be- 
have like  the  dogs — only  it  would  not  be  easy  to  select 
those  of  the  right  age.  There  is  no  doubt  that  astonish- 
ment makes  its  appearance  earlier  than  fear. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

SUMMARY   OF   GENERAL    RESULTS. 

It  is  very  difficult  for  the  matured  human  being  to 
place  himself  in  thought  in  the  condition  of  a  child  that 
has  had  as  yet  no  experiences,  or  only  vague  ones ;  be- 
cause every  individual  experience  leaves  in  the  brain, 
without  doubt,  after  the  first  epochs  of  growth  are  suc- 
cessfully passed,  an  organic  modification — as  it  were  a 
scar — so  that  the  previous  condition  of  the  sensorium  in 
the  newly-born,  a  condition  as  yet  undisturbed  by  indi- 
vidual impressions — affected  only  by  the  traces  of  the 
experiences   of  past  generations  —  can  not   be   recon- 


SUMMARY   OF   GENERAL  RESULTS.  177 

structed  without  employing  the  help  of  imagination. 
For  the  mental  state  of  each  man  is  so  much  the  prod- 
uct of  his  experiences,  that  he  can  not  picture  himself 
to  himself  at  all  as  being  without  these  experiences. 

And  yet  I  believe  that,  on  the  basis  of  the  facts  com- 
prised in  the  previous  chapters,  something  may  be  laid 
down  as  probable. 

With  regard  to  sense-activity  in  general,  we  may 
note,  as  in  the  highest  degree  probable,  that  before  birth 
no  sensation  of  light  exists,  no  luminous  image  produced 
by  pressure  on  the  eye,  or  by  pulling  upon  the  optic 
nerve  or  the  retina,  and  yet  immediately  after  birth  light 
and  darkness  are  distinguished.  It  is  certain  that  no 
sensation  of  smell  is  experienced  before  birth,  and  yet 
the  newly -born  react  upon  strong-smelling  substances  in 
the  first  hour  of  life.  No  human  being,  certainly,  can 
hear  before  birth  ;  but  several  hours  (with  animals  half 
an  hour)  after  birth  reflex  movements  upon  strong  im- 
pressions of  sound  have  been,  in  individual  cases,  regu- 
larly demonstrated  by  me.  A  sensation  of  taste,  in  the 
strict  meaning  of  the  word,  can  hardly  be  possessed  by 
the  child  before  birth,  but  directly  after  birth  he  behaves 
quite  differently  toward  very  bitter  substances  from 
what  he  does  toward  sweet.  There  remains,  then,  only 
the  sense  of  touch,  as  a  probably  acti  ve  one  in  the  foetal 
state.  Yet  the  unborn  human  being,  beyond  a  doubt, 
is  not  in  condition  to  distinguish  warmth  from  cold. 
Accordingly,  unless  general  sensations  may  exist,  it  is 
only  sensations  of  contact  that  the  human  being  just 
born  has  experienced  before  he  comes  into  the  world. 

In  regard  to  the  development  of  the  separate  senses, 
the  following  results  are  especially  to  be  mentioned  : 


178  THE    MIND   OF   THE   CHILD. 

Seeing. — The  human  child  can  not  see,  in  the  proper 
meaning  of  the  word,  during  the  first  weeks.  At  the 
beginning,  the  child  merely  distinguishes  light  from 
darkness,  and  discerns  the  change  from  one  to  the  other 
only  when  a  large  part  of  the  field  of  vision  is  illumined 
or  shaded.  But  if  the  light  object  is  much  brighter 
than  the  surroundings,  as  the  flame  of  a  candle  in  a  dark 
room,  then  it  produces  the  sensation  of  light  in  the  very 
first  week,  even  if  the  object  be  small. 

The  discrimination  of  colors  is  in  the  first  months 
exceedingly  imperfect,  and  is,  perhaps,  restricted  to  the 
discerning  of  unequal  degrees  of  light.  The  first  colors 
to  be  rightly  named  are  yellow  and  red,  and  the  sensations 
of  brightness,  white,  gray,  and  black ;  green  and  blue, 
on  the  contrary,  are  not  correctly  named  till  much  later. 
Probably  the  child  of  one  year  continues  to  perceive 
green  and  blue  almost  as  gray,  at  any  rate  as  not  so  dif- 
ferent from  each  other  as  at  a  later  period.  A  child  will 
hardly  name  correctly  the  four  primitive  colors  men- 
tioned before  the  end  of  the  second  year ;  while,  on 
the  other  hand,  every  normal  child  will,  in  the  fourth 
year,  even  without  special  training  of  the  color-sense, 
recognize  and  name  them  better  than  the  compound 
colors. 

The  winking  of  the  eyelid  on  a  sudden  approach  to 
the  face  is  wanting  in  the  first  weeks,  and  is  a  reflex 
movement  of  the  nature  of  defense,  which  originates 
only  after  a  disagreeable  feeling,  in  consequence  of  a 
sudden  hitherto  unobserved  change  in  the  field  of  vis- 
ion, has  been  able  to  be  developed.  Accordingly,  the 
rapid  opening  and  shutting  of  the  eyes  is,  from  the  sec- 
ond month  on,  a  sign  of  perfected  sight,  especially  a 


SUMMARY    OF   GENERAL   RESULTS.  179 

sign  of  the  perception  of  rapid  movements.  Further,  it 
is  true  in  general,  that  the  eyes  are  opened  wider  when 
impressions  and  conditions  are  agreeable  than  when  dis- 
agreeable. 

The  eye-movements  of  new-born  human  beings  are 
not  co-ordinated,  not  associated  as  they  are  later  in  dis- 
tinct vision,  but  are  in  the  first  days  predominantly 
irregular  ;  yet  it  often  happens  that,  among  the  mani- 
fold unregulated  movements  of  the  eyes,  there  even  ap- 
pear turnings  of  both  eyes  at  the  same  time  to  the  left, 
or  to  the  right,  or  upward,  or  downward.  These  origi- 
nally rare  and  not  quite  symmetrical  eye-movements, 
soon  become  more  frequent  and  quite  symmetrical,  and 
gradually  displace  the  irregular  movements  entirely,  be- 
cause they  favor  clearer  vision. 

The  "  fixation  "  and  distinct  seeing  of  an  object  are 
slowly  developed.  In  the  first  stage  the  child  stares 
into  empty  space.  In  the  second,  he  turns  the  eye  fre- 
quently from  an  object  that  is  in  the  line  of  his  gaze, 
e.  g.,  a  face,  to  a  remarkably  bright  object  that  emerges 
near  by,  e.  g.,  the  flame  of  a  candle,  and  then  stares  at 
this.  In  the  third  stage  he  follows  a  slowly-moving  ob- 
ject with  eye  and  head,  or  with  the  eyes  only. 

The  transition  from  staring  to  looking  is  complete ; 
that  from  looking  to  observing  is  attained  in  the  fourth 
stage.  Accommodation  is  now  effected ;  objects  un- 
equally distant  from  the  eye  are  distinctly  seen  in  suc- 
cession, whereas,  at  the  beginning,  all  seemed  to  be 
blended  in  the  same  plane.  The  contraction  of  the  pupil 
comes  with  convergence  of  the  lines  of  vision  in  seeing 
near  objects,  whereas,  at  the  beginning,  the  contraction 
of  the  pupil  to  light,  even  without  near  vision,  and 


180  THE   MIND   OF   THE   CHILD. 

-without  convergence,  is  noticed,  and  dilated  pupils  are 
often  present  along  with  convergence.  The  expression, 
when  there  are  convergence  and  binocular  vision  of  a 
slowly-moving  object,  is  always  "  intelligent." 

The  longest  delay  of  all  in  the  child  is  in  the  gradual 
development  of  the  ability  to  interpret  what  is  seen. 
Transparency,  lustre,  shadow,  are  for  years  incompre- 
hensible, and  lose  the  mystery  that  clings  to  them  only 
through  very  frequently  repeated  perception. 

The  thickness  of  objects  seen  remains  long  un- 
known, and  the  third  dimension  of  space  becomes  a 
constituent  part  of  perceptions  late  and  imperfectly,  in 
comparison  with  the  first  two  (the  length  and  breadth). 
The  failures  of  attempts  at  seizing  objects  show 
how  imperfectly  (even  in  the  second  and  third  years) 
the  estimate  of  distance  still  is ;  the  erroneous  inter- 
pretations of  ordinary  sight-impressions,  as  of  steam 
and  flame,  prove  that  the  establishment  of  a  relation  be- 
tween the  impressions  of  touch  and  those  of  sight  is 
effected  but  slowly  in  the  first  years  ;  and  that  in  par- 
ticular the  perception  of  the  difference  between  a  sur- 
face-extension and  an  extension  in  three  dimensions 
begins  late  and  is  established  slowly.  Yet  the  ability  to 
recognize  pictures  of  known  objects  and  persons  as  such, 
is  developed  early. 

As  to  the  theory  of  space-perception,  the  facts  prove 
directly  that  there  does  not  exist  in  the  human  being 
immediately  after  birth  a  ready-made,  inborn  mechan- 
ism to  be  set  in  regular  activity  by  impressions  of 
light;  but  that  the  impressions  themselves  really  de- 
velop the  inherited  mechanism,  which  is  but  incomplete 
at  birth.     In  this  the  empirical  theory  is  correct.     The 


SUMMARY   OF  GENERAL   RESULTS.  181 

foundations  only  are  innate,  not  the  entire  apparatus. 
And  yet  this  proposition  can  by  no  means  be  admitted 
to  be  exclusive,  to  be  invariably  true.  It  is  true  for 
mankind ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  many  animals  that 
see  at  birth — especially  chickens  and  pigs,  but  many 
others,  too — bring  with  them  into  the  world  a  mechanism 
for  space-perception  that  is  completely  capable  of  per- 
forming its  function — that  needs  only  some  luminous 
impressions  in  order  to  operate  at  once  nearly  or  quite 
as  perfectly  as  in  the  adult  animal.  In  this  case,  which 
supports  the  most  extreme  nativism  (see  p.  34),  the 
possibility  of  any  considerable  perfecting  of  sight  by 
practice  on  the  part  of  individuals  is,  it  would  seem, 
excluded,  to  begin  with ;  the  chicken,  which,  when 
just  hatched,  pecks  accurately  at  a  grain  of  millet 
does  not  learn  to  see  much  better  through  frequent 
seeing.  Man,  on  the  contrary,  learns,  from  the  time 
of  birth  on,  to  see  better  day  by  day,  and,  even 
in  later  life,  can,  by  much  seeing,  vastly  improve 
his  visional  apparatus  in  more  than  one  direction.  The 
hereditary  mechanism  is,  therefore,  still  plastic  in  him — 
still  highly  capable  of  differentiation — because  not  so 
far  advanced  and  one-sidedly  developed  as  in  the  fowl, 
which  is  sharp-sighted  immediately  after  being  hatched, 
Inning  a  visual  organ  that  is  complete,  and  no  longer 
so  plastic,  and  also  relatively  much  larger. 

Hearing. — The  hearing  of  the  new-born  child  is  so 
imperfect  that  it  must  be  called  deaf.  All  mam- 
mals are  also  incapable  of  reacting  upon  impressions 
of  sound  immediately  after  birth.  The  cause  of  this 
peculiarity  is  partly  peripheral.  Previous  to  respiration, 
air  is  wanting  in  the  middle  ear,  and  the  outer  auditory 
14 


182  THE   MIND   OF  THE  CHILD. 

passage  is  not  yet  permeable,  the  tympanum  being  set 
too  obliquely. 

Even  after  the  sound-conducting  parts  of  the  ear 
have  become  open,  from  a  quarter  of  a  day  to  several 
days  after  birth,  there  is  no  discrimination  of  sounds ; 
but  before  the  end  of  the  first  week  we  notice,  in  nor- 
mal children,  the  characteristic  winking  of  the  eyelid 
after  a  sudden  loud  noise.  The  starting  at  powerful 
sound-impressions,  which  continues  for  several  months, 
proves  the  growth  of  the  faculty  of  hearing.  Mean- 
while, although  particular  kinds  of  sounds,  not  pre- 
viously observed,  are  perceived  as  different  even  in 
the  first  months  of  life — e.  g.,  deep  voices  and  high 
voices,  hissing  sounds  and  ^-sounds,  singing  and  speak- 
ing— still,  it  is  three  quarters  of  a  year,  at  least,  before 
a  child  knows  the  notes  of  the  piano,  and  it  is  question- 
able whether  he  can  learn  to  name  correctly  c,  d,  e,f,  g, 
a,  b  before  the  end  of  the  second  year.  Many  children, 
notwithstanding,  learn  to  sing  before  they  talk,  and  all 
distinguish  the  noises  and  tones  of  speech  long  before 
they  can  produce  them  themselves.  At  the  same  time 
the  intensity  of  the  sound-impression  made,  in  the  case 
of  great  differences,  is  recognized  by  the  attentive  ob- 
server, by  the  varying  liveliness  of  the  reflexes,  even  in 
sleep.  The  direction  of  the  sound  is  perceived  by  the 
child  as  early  as  the  second  and  the  third  month. 

The  great  superiority  of  the  ear  to  the  eye,  from  the 
psychogenetic  point  of  view,  is  but  slightly  prominent 
upon  superficial  observation  of  the  child  that  does  not 
yet  speak;  but  we  need  only  compare  a  child  born 
blind  with  one  born  deaf,  after  both  have  enjoyed  the 
most  careful   training  and  the  best  instruction,  to  be 


SUMMARY   OF   GENERAL   RESULTS.  183 

convinced  that,  after  the  first  year,  the  excitements  of 
the  auditory  nerve  contribute  far  more  to  the  psychical 
development  than  do  those  of  the  optic  nerve. 

Further,  many  mammals  and  fowls  are  provided, 
at  their  entrance  into  the  world,  with  a  more  developed, 
much  more  correctly-working  auditory  apparatus  than 
that  of  man,  and  are  far  superior  in  perception  of  pitch, 
intensity,  and  direction  of  sound,  to  the  human  child ; 
but  in  no  animal  is  the  cerebral  portion  of  the  organ  of 
hearing  capable  of  so  fine  differentiation  after  birth, 
for  none  reacts  with  anything  near  the  precision  with 
which  the  child  reacts  upon  the  subtile  variations  of  in- 
tensity and  quality  of  the  sounds  of  human  speech. 

Sensibility  to  contact  is,  in  the  first  hour  of  life, 
much  inferior  to  what  it  is  later ;  the  sense  of  tempera^ 
ture  does  not  yet  exist.  The  latter  probably  leads,  but 
not  till  after  repeated  alternations  of  warm  baths  and  the 
cooling  off  of  the  whole  surface  of  the  skin  and  of  par- 
ticular places,  to  discrimination  of  the  sensations  "  hot, 
warm,  cool,  cold,"  inasmuch  as  the  neutral  point  of  the 
temperature  of  the  skin,  always  the  same  before  birth, 
can  not  at  once  be  established. 

To  painful  assaults  that  reach  only  a  few  nerves  of 
the  skin,  the  newly-born  show  an  inferior  degree  of 
sensibility ;  yet  it  can  not  be  doubted  that  they  are 
capable  of  highly  unpleasant  sensations  after  they  have 
exhibited  unambiguous  signs  of  comfort  (in  nursing  and 
in  the  warm  bath). 

The  inferior  degree  of  sensibility  to  contact,  as  well 
as  to  temperature  and  to  pain,  in  the  newly-born,  are  to 
be  referred  (as  with  the  foetus)  to  the  as  yet  incomplete 
development  of  the  brain,  not  of  the  skin.    On  the  con- 


184r  THE    MIXD   OF   THE   CHILD. 

trary,  the  nerves  of  the  skin  are  very  excitable,  no  doubt 
because  they  alone,  of  all  the  nerves  of  sense,  are  very 
frequently  excited  before  birth,  the  movements  of  the 
child  causing  contact  at  many  points  of  the  shin. 

Taste. — Of  all  the  organs  of  sense  that  of  taste  is  best 
developed  in  the  new-born  child  at  birth.  Sweet  is  at 
once  distinguished  from  bitter,  sour,  or  salt,  and  the  sour 
gives  a  different  sensation  from  the  bitter.  Here  we 
have  one  of  the  cases,  rare  in  mankind,  of  innate  ca- 
pacity to  distinguish  among  qualities  in  the  same  de- 
partment of  sense.  Many  animals  can  likewise  imme- 
diately after  birth  distinguish  sweet  from  other  tastes. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  ability  to  distinguish  unequal 
intensities  of  taste  is  very  slightly  developed  in  the 
child  at  the  beginning  of  life. 

Smell. — Probably  the  newly-born  can  not  smell  any- 
thing immediately  on  its  entrance  into  the  world,  because 
the  cavity  of  the  nose  has  been  previously  filled  up  with 
amniotic  fluid ;  and  in  the  adult,  when  the  cavity  has 
been  filled  with  liquid,  there  is  for  some  time  inability 
to  smell,  or  a  dullness  of  the  sense  of  smell.  But,  after 
some  hours,  and  it  may  be  even  in  the  first  hour  after 
birth,  normal  children  can  distinguish  between  agree- 
able and  disagreeable  smells.  Of  many  animals,  it  is 
known  that  they  do  not  delay  to  make  use  of  their  sense 
of  smell  when  the  nasal  cavity  has  once  been  filled  with 
air  by  breathing.  And  the  normal  child,  too,  early  dis- 
tinguishes clearly  different  kinds  of  milk;  accordingly, 
he  very  likely  distinguishes  some  .odors  at  the  end  of 
the  first  day  of  life. 

Feelings. — As  to  the  feelings  of  the  child  in  the  first 
period  of  life,  it  is  certain  that  they  are  not  manifold,  in- 


SUMMARY   OF   GENERAL   RESULTS.  185 

deed  (because  the  activity  of  the  senses  is  still  incom- 
plete), but  they  may  be  very  intense.  Every  sensation, 
when  it  is  compared  with  a  different  sensation,  produces 
a  feeling.  All  feelings  are  either  agreeable  or  disagree- 
able. In  the  first  case,  they  awaken  in  the  child  the  de- 
sire for  a  repetition  of  the  sensation  concerned,  since  the 
very  lack  of  the  agreeable  produces  discomfort ;  in  the 
second  case,  the  desire  for  repetition  is  not  stirred.  It  is, 
however,  a  peculiarity  of  all  agreeable  feelings  that,  after 
a  certain  duration,  they  are  no  longer  agreeable,  doubtless 
because  they  depend  upon  excitations  of  the  ganglionic 
cells,  and  these  cells  are  soon  fatigued  when  they  are 
intensely  excited — i.  e.,  when  the  feeling  is  very  vivid. 
In  little  children  this  is  shown  by  the  rapid  change  in 
what  they  think  desirable. 

The  feelings  that  are  not  agreeable  are  either  dis- 
agreeable or  indifferent.  The  former  are  wont  to  be 
expressed  by  vigorous,  loud  expirations  of  the  breath, 
by  cries,  and,  even  at  the  earliest  period,  by  an  unmis- 
takable play  of  the  countenance,  especially  by  the  shape 
the  mouth  takes. 

Little  as  is  known  thus  far  of  the  emotions  and  feel- 
ings of  the  young  child,  one  thing  may,  however,  be  de- 
clared as  certain — that  these  are  the  first  of  all  psychical 
events  to  appear  with  definiteness,  and  that  they  deter- 
mine the  behavior  of  the  child.  Before  a  sure  sign  of 
will,  of  memory,  judgment,  inference,  in  the  proper 
sense,  is  found,  the  feelings  have  expressed  themselves 
in  direct  connection  with  the  first  excitations  of  the 
nerves  of  sense,  and  before  the  sensations  belonging  to 
the  special  departments  of  sense  can  be  clearly  dis- 
tinguished as  specifically  different.     But  through  repe- 


1S6  THE   MIND   OF   THE   CHILD. 

tition  of  feelings,  opposed  in  character,  are  gradually 
unfolded  memory,  power  of  abstraction,  judgment,  and 
inference. 

The  most  powerful  agent  in  the  development  of  the 
understanding  at  the  beginning  is  astonishment,  together 
with  the  fear  that  is  akin  to  it. 

Out  of  the  desire  of  everything  that  has  once  occa- 
sioned pleasurable  feelings  is  gradually  developed  the 
child's  will. 


SECOND   PART. 

DEVELOPMENT  OF    WILL. 

Activity  of  will  is  possible  only  after  perceptions 
have  been  bad.  What  is  desirable  must  necessarily  have 
been  set  off  from  what  is  to  be  repelled,  through  re- 
peated comparison  of  sensations,  before  willing  can  show 
itself.  For  whoever  wills,  knows  what  he  wills  and 
what  he  does  not  will ;  has  previously  ascertained  what 
is  to  him  desirable  and  what  is  repulsive.  The  new- 
born child  knows  nothing  of  this,  and  hence  has  as  yet 
no  will.  He  has  not  yet  had  any  experiences  in  regard 
to  his  own  states ;  has  not  compared  any  sensations ; 
perceived  anything  of  the  external  world  ;  and  so  has 
obtained  no  knowledge  of  what  will  be  to  him  agreeable 
or  disagreeable.  He  who  wills  has  gained  this  knowl- 
edge through  his  own  experience,  and  regulates  accord- 
ingly his  behavior — i.  e.,  his  movements. 

In  order  to  follow  the  very  slow  transition,  accom- 
plished not  by  steps  but  in  a  continuous  flow,  from  the 
one  condition  to  the  other,  all  movements  made  by  the 
human  being  while  he  is  still  feeble  must,  as  far  as  pos- 
sible, be  observed,  with  the  question  in  view,  how  far 
they  may  be  expressions  of  a  will. 

I  therefore  put  together,  in  this  second  part,  my  ob- 


188  THE  MIND  OF  THE  CHILD. 

servations  touching  the  movements  of  the  child,  and 
some  conclusions  that  follow  directly  from  them,  bear- 
ing upon  the  formation  of  the  will. 


CHAPTER   VIII. 

THE   MOVEMENTS    OF    THE    CHILD  AS  EXPRESSIONS  OF  WILL. 

It  is  only  through  movements  that  the  will  directly 
expresses  itself.  The  possibility  of  recognizing  the  will 
of  the  child  in  his  movements  must,  therefore,  be  estab- 
lished, and  the  manifold  character  of  the  child's  move- 
ments be  set  forth,  before  we  consider  the  observations 
upon  the  gradual  development  of  will. 

1.  Recognition  of  the  Child's  Will. 

Widely  different  as  are  the  phenomena  within  the 
domain  of  will,  that  owe  their  origin  directly  to  it,  every 
expression  of  will  is  first  recognized  in  movements,  viz., 
words,  acts,  looks,  gestures.  Not  every  spoken  sound, 
nor  every  act  performed,  nor  every  look  or  gesture,  is 
the  expression  of  an  act  of  will :  for  sleeping  persons 
can  talk  ;  somnambulists  do  various  things  without  will- 
ing, without  knowing  what  they  do ;  and  expressions  of 
countenance  may  be  produced  artificially,  by  electrical 
stimulus,  in  opposition  to  the  influence  of  the  will ;  and 
infants  that  have  no  will  often  make  gestures,  the  sig- 
nificance of  which  as  expressions  of  will  (to  adults)  is 
wholly  unknown  to  them.  But,  conversely,  it  is  true 
strictly  and  universally,  that  the  will,  in  the  ordinary 
sense,  during  its  development,  announces   itself    only 


MOVEMENTS   AS   EXPRESSIONS   OF   WILL.  189 

through  the  language  of  words,  acts,  looks,  and  gest- 
ures. 

After  its  first  stages  of  development  it  can  reveal 
itself  indirectly,  also,  by  the  opposite  means,  to  wit, 
by  the  suppression  of  these  very  movements.  No  one 
doubts  that  a  man  is  capable  of  expressing  his  will  in- 
directly by  silence  and  by  inactivity,  without  altering 
his  countenance  and  without  gestures,  precisely  by  the 
inhibition  of  movements.  In  this,  however,  we  have  to 
do,  not  with  a  particular  kind  of  willing  which  is  to  be 
classed  with  those  positive  expressions  of  will  that  have 
been  spoken  of,  but  we  have  to  do  with  the  exact  op- 
posite. It  is  clear  that  in  all  these  cases  in  which  the 
will  has  been  already  much  developed  beforehand,  the 
person  that  inhibits  the  movement  is  in  the  state  of  non- 
willing,  noluntas,  or  nolentia,  in  contrast  with  voluntas. 
To  this  state  of  being-unwilling  belongs  the  voluntary 
inhibition  of  a  movement,  this  inhibition  being  nothing 
else  than  the  non-willing  of  the  movement.  Non-will- 
ing is  not,  however,  characterized  by  the  absence  of 
symptoms  of  willing,  as  the  mere  negation  of  that,  but 
is  a  peculiar  condition  of  excitement  in  that  it  checks  a 
movement,  or  is  intended  to  check  one. 

The  will-apparatus,  or  the  complex  organism  of  cen- 
tro-motor  structures  of  the  highest  rank,  which  is  to  be 
looked  for  in  the  cerebrum,  must  be  so  organized  that, 
when  it  is  in  activity,  some  muscular  contraction  results  ; 
when  it  is  not  active,  either  nothing  happens,  because 
there  are  no  ideas  (without  prejudice  to  the  possibility 
of  immediate  activity  of  will  in  case  a  motor  idea  pre- 
sents itself),  or  nothing  can  happen,  because  the  ap- 
paratus is  brought  to  a  standstill  by  other  ideas.     This 


190  THE   MIND    OF   THE   CHILD. 

last  is  the  state  of  inhibition,  which,  as  so-called  volun- 
tary inhibition  or  nolition,  also  controls,  from  the  brain 
outward,  motor  centers  of  lower  rank  (in  part). 

To  the  state  of  willing  is  opposed,  in  general,  the 
state  of  not-willing  ;  in  particular,  the  state  of  inhibition 
of  a  movement.  Not-willing  is  the  excluding  or  con- 
tradictory opposite  of  willing ;  inhibition  in  the  physi- 
ological sense,  the  contrary  opposite  of  willing.  An 
illustration  will  make  this  clear.  Take  a  bar  of  soft 
iron  and  make  it  magnetic  by  means  of  an  electric  cur- 
rent that  incloses  it,  and  it  attracts  another  piece  of 
iron ;  but  let  a  second  electric  current  of  the  proper 
strength,  in  a  second  spiral  wire,  circulate  around  the 
bar  in  an  opposite  direction  to  the  first,  and  the  bar  no 
longer  attracts  the  iron.  When  this  second  inhibitory 
current  is  interrupted,  then  the  attraction  is  present 
again.  Here  the  attraction  of  the  iron  represents  a 
muscular  movement  in  the  condition  of  willing ;  the 
non-attraction  represents  muscular  rest  in  the  condition 
of  not-willing ;  while  in  general  a  bar  of  iron  does  not 
attract  another,  so,  too,  in  a  particular  case,  a  bar  of 
iron  encircled  by  two  properly -graded  electric  currents 
having  opposite  directions,  likewise  does  not  attract 
another,  but  regains  its  magnetism  at  once  when  the 
second  current  ceases.  Thus,  when  a  child  expresses  no 
will — i.  e.,  makes  no  voluntary  movement — two  cases 
are  to  be  distinguished  from  each  other  :  either  the  child 
has  as  yet  no  will,  or  he  checks  his  movements  with  a 
will  already  much  developed  :  he  wills,  namely,  that  a 
movement  shall  not  be  made.  As  soon  as  the  inhibition 
or  nolition  passes  away,  movement  appears  again,  in  case 
the  antecedents  of  it  in  the  brain  have  not  in  the  mean 


MOVEMENTS   AS   EXPRESSIONS   OF   WILL.  191 

time  vanished.  For  voluntary  inhibition  has  influence 
in  general  only  on  those  muscles  the  nerves  of  which 
are  in  organic  connection  with  the  cerebrum,  the  seat  of 
the  will. 

This  distinction  between  willing  and  voluntary  inhi- 
bition may  seem  an  idle  one,  but  it  is  necessary,  because 
it  refutes  the  notion  that  one  can  will  a  non-activity. 
One  can  merely  will-not-to-be,  inhibit,  prevent  activity  ; 
for  it  lies  in  the  nature  of  willing  to  be  always  positive. 
It  can,  therefore,  be  recognized  only  by  positive  expres- 
sions ;  where  these  are  wanting,  we  are  authorized  to 
deny  its  actual  presence,  and  we  have  then  to  investigate 
not-willing  (or  willing  not-to-be,  or  not-to-act). 

Now,  according  to  experience,  the  expressions  of  will 
are  four  only— word,  act,  look,  gesture.  If,  then,  it  is 
to  be  ascertained  whether  a  child  is  in  the  state  of  will- 
ing, at  least  one  of  the  four  forms  of  expression  must 
be  proved  by  observation  to  be  present.  Failing  in  this, 
we  must  conclude  that,  invariably,  at  the  time  of  ob- 
servation, the  individual  observed  was  demonstrably  not 
in  the  state  of  willing. 

But,  granting  that  we  succeed,  the  inference  as  to 
the  presence  of  the  will  continues  still  to  be  uncertain, 
inasmuch  as  in  some  circumstances  the  phenomena 
mentioned  appear  without  will.  Hence,  we  need  more 
exact  criteria. 

In  the  first  place,  it  is  settled  that  all  willing  is  rec- 
ognized exclusively  by  movements  of  contractile  parts 
of  the  willing  being — in  man  and  the  higher  animals 
by  muscular  contractions  induced  by  excitement  of 
nerves.  But  there  are  various  classes  of  nervo-muscular 
movements,  and  in  beings  of  low  order  without  nerves 


192  THE  MIND  OF  THE  CHILD. 

and  muscles  there  are  movements  of  contractile  tissues 
to  which  choice  can  not  in  advance  be  denied.  Finally, 
in  all  cases  where  a  contractile  tissue  exists,  direct  stimu- 
lus of  this  is  capable  of  producing  contraction,  which 
may  take  precisely  the  same  course  as  if,  instead  of  the 
artificial  stimulus,  the  will  itself  had  caused  it. 

In  order  to  ascertain  in  the  midst  of  these  manifold 
movements  of  contractile  structures  those  to  which  the 
predicate  "willed"  applies,  we  should  be  obliged  to 
have  an  objective  sign  once  for  all  present  in  those  very 
movements,  and  wanting  in  all  others.  But  such  a  cri- 
terion can  not  be  given. 

Only  subjective  means  of  distinguishing  can  be 
given,  and  the  four  following  are,  in  my  view,  charac- 
teristic : 

1.  Every  willed  movement  is  preceded  directly  by 
ideas,  one  of  which,  finally,  as  cause  of  the  movement, 
acquires  motor  force. 

2.  Every  willed  movement  is  previously  known  in 
general,  or  in  its  kind,  to  the  one  who  executes  it,  and 
it  has — 

3.  An  aim,  more  or  less  clearly  represented  in  his 
mind  ;  finally,  the  movement  may — 

4.  Even  at  the  instant  of  the  rise  of  the  voluntary 
impulse,  be  inhibited  by  new  ideas. 

The  three  first-named  signs  accompany  every  willed 
movement ;  the  last  makes  its  appearance  only  after  the 
will  is  completely  formed,  and  stamps  the  willed  move- 
ments as  voluntary  in  the  stricter  sense. 

Every  movement  to  which  these  four  characteristics 
do  not  apply  is  involuntary.  Accordingly,  all  muscular 
movements  of  man  may,  in  fact,  be  distinguished  as 


MOVEMENTS   AS   EXPRESSIONS   OF   WILL.  193 

willed  and  not-willed,  voluntary  and  involuntary.  Many 
willed,  movements  are  executed  by  adults  involuntarily 
also — e.  g.,  talking  in  sleep ;  many  involuntary  move- 
ments voluntarily,  especially  by  actors ;  but,  for  all  that, 
the  essential  difference  of  the  two  remains.  For  the  im- 
pulse to  an  involuntary  movement  has  something  added 
to  it  when  it  is  changed  into  a  voluntary ;  and  the  im- 
pulse to  a  voluntary  movement  has  something  subtracted 
from  it  when  it  becomes  involuntary.  This  something 
is  precisely  the  purely  psychical  element  of  the  previous 
motor  idea,  the  knowledge  of  the  movement  and  of  its 
aim,  and  the  possibility  of  its  being  inhibited  by  new 
ideas. 

When  do  these  attributes  appear  in  the  child  ? 

The  answer  to  this  question,  as  I  shall  attempt  to 
give  it,  presupposes  that  shortly  before  birth,  and  in  a 
higher  degree  immediately  after  birth,  the  motor  cen- 
ters possess  a  variable  excitability,  of  such  a  sort  that 
in  certain  conditions,  especially  the  first  agreeable  ones, 
they  supply  fewer  motor  impulses  ;  in  certain  other  con- 
ditions— the  first  disagreeable  ones — they  supply  more 
such  impulses.  By  this  the  irregular,  manifold,  inborn 
movements  of  the  very  young  bahe  are  influenced  neces- 
sarily— e.  g.,  they  are  increased  in  the  condition  of  hun- 
ger ;  and  this  influence  appears  as  the  manifestation  of 
an  innate  faculty  of  desire,  so  called.  The  movements 
continue  until  the  increased  excitability  (e.  g.,  that 
caused  by  hunger)  is  lessened.  Then  the  assumed  desire 
seems  satisfied.  With  repeated  variation  in  the  central 
excitability  (due  purely  to  organic  causes — nutrition, 
supply  of  oxygen,  etc.),  the  feeling  that  now  appears, 
of  satisfied  or  unsatisfied  desire,  will  work  upon  the 


194:  THE   MIND   OF   THE   CHILD. 

motor  central  organs  in  opposite  ways,  and  will  impart 
to  the  innate  movements  the  character  of  longing  or 
of  repulsion.  But  these  movements  can  not  be  trans- 
formed into  willed  movements  until  ideas  are  formed. 

Thus  the  will  does  not  arise  out  of  nothing,  and  does 
not  pre-exist  as  such,  but  is  developed  out  of  that  desire, 
which  on  its  part  is  not  a  fundamental,  simple  function 
of  the  ganglionic  cell,  but  the  result  of  the  variations  in 
the  excitability  of  that  cell  by  means  of  feelings  and 
then  of  ideas.  The  will,  as  such,  is  not  inborn,  but  it 
is  hereditary.  The  variable  excitability  of  the  motor 
central  organs,  and,  associated  with  that,  a  succession  of 
primitive  (impulsive)  movements,  which  adults  desig- 
nate as  movements  of  "  longing,"  and  ascribe  to  a  fac- 
ulty of  desire ;  this  is  inborn  in  every  one  as  the  first 
germ  of  willing.  The  question  is,  When  does  this  germ 
manifest  itself  in  such  a  way  that  no  doubt  can  exist  of 
the  presence  of  will  ? 

Evidently  we  must,  in  order  to  find  the  answer,  test 
the  normal  infant,  proceeding  chronologically  in  our 
experiments,  to  ascertain  whether  a  new  movement,  as, 
e.  g.,  the  first  grasping  at  an  object  seen,  is  accidental 
or  intentional ;  i.  e.,  whether  the  grasping  movement  is 
known  to  the  child  that  desires  as  well  as  grasps,  and 
whether  its  aim  actually  hovers  before  him.  But  even 
then  the  movement  is  not  yet  necessarily  voluntary.  It 
is  so,  however,  when  it  can  be  omitted  ;  say,  on  account 
of  the  idea  of  disagreeable  consequences. 

Although  the  discovery  of  the  appearance  of  such 
activity  of  will  in  the  child  has  an  element  of  uncer- 
tainty in  it,  because  it  comes  at  a  time  when  verbal  lan- 
guage is  still  wanting,  yet  the  determination  of  the  first 


MOVEMENTS   AS   EXPRESSIONS   OF   WILL.  195 

instance  of  excitement  in  non-willing  is  much  more  dif- 
ficult. Here,  however,  the  earliest  independent  inhibi- 
tion of  accustomed  movements  presents  something  for 
us  to  lay  hold  of. 

Both  taken  together — the  development  of  will  in 
the  actually-executed  movements  of  the  child,  and  the 
development  of  non-willing  in  the  inhibition  of  fre- 
quently-repeated movements — furnish  the  foundation 
for  the  formation  of  character.  Both  demand  for  their 
investigation,  above  all,  a  careful  observation  of  the 
movements  of  the  child  from  the  beginning  of  its  life. 
No  one  has  up  to  the  present  time  even  attempted  this. 

2.   Classification  of  the  Child's  Movements. 

A  principle  of  classification  for  the  movements  of 
the  human  being,  sufficient  for  all  actual  cases,  has  not 
yet  been  found.  I  must,  therefore,  attempt  a  new  one, 
in  order  simply  that  the  movements  of  the  child  that 
appear  in  the  first  years  of  life  may  be  brought  into 
groups  for  a  synoptical  presentation. 

If  in  this  scheme  of  classification  we  regard  the  pro- 
cess immediately  preceding  the  movement  as  the  ex- 
clusive criterion  of  distinction,  then  there  will  be  four 
different  kinds  of  movements,  according  to  the  com- 
plexity of  this  process,  to  be  separated  from  one  another 
— movements  of  the  first,  second,  third,  and  fourth  rank 
— further  movements  may  be  derived  from  these,  as 
will  appear  in  what  follows. 

The  accompanying  diagram  will  serve  for  illustra- 
tion. It  lays  claim  only  to  a  general  significance — i.  e., 
it  is  true  anatomically  only  of  the  relation  of  each  case 
to  the  following  case  : 


196 


THE   MIND   OF   THE   CHILD. 

V 


E  represents  the  extremities  of  all  the  nerves  of  sense  (in  the  eye,  ear, 
mouth,  nose,  skin). 

E  S,  the  nerves  of  sense  in  their  course  (e.  g.,  the  paths  of  the  optic 
nerve,  auditory  nerve,  cutaneous  nerves,  in  the  upper  portion  of  the  pe- 
duncle of  the  cerebrum). 

S,  the  lower  sensory  centers  (e.  g.,  optic  thalami,  corpora  quadrigemi- 
na,  corona  radiata). 

G,  the  higher  sensory  or  emotional  centers  in  the  cerebral  cortex  (pa- 
rietal region). 

V,  the  ideational  centers  in  the  cerebral  cortex. 

W,  the  higher  motor  or  volitional  centers  (centro-motor  and  inhibitory) 
in  the  cortex  also. 

M,  the  lower  motor  centers. 

P,  the  extremities  of  the  motor  nerves  (muscles). 

I.  Impulsive  Movements. — These  may  be  distin- 
guished from  all  other  movements  by  this,  that  they 
are  caused  without  previous  peripheral  excitement,  ex- 
clusively by  the  nutritive  and  other  organic  processes 
that  go  on  in  the  motor  centers  of  the  lowest  rank 
(M  P).     They  are  movements  which  the  foetus  already 


MOVEMENTS   AS   EXPRESSIONS   OF   WILL.  197 

executes,  and  earlier  than  any  others,  at  a  time  when, 
as  it  can  not  possibly  be  incited  to  movement  by  periph- 
eral stimulus,  its  centripetal  paths  are  not  yet  prac- 
ticable or  not  yet  formed  at  all,  and  the  ganglionic 
cells  from  which  the  excitations  proceed  are  not  yet 
developed.  After  birth  such  purely  centro-motor  im- 
pulses may  continue  long  after  complete  development 
of  the  centers,  especially  in  sleep.  All  these  move- 
ments are  unconscious. 

II.  Reflex  Movements. — These  require  peripheral  ex- 
citation— i.  e.,  sense-impressions  and  centripetal,  inter- 
central,  and  centrifugal  paths  (R  S  M  P)  ;  they  make 
their  first  appearance,  therefore,  in  the  embryo  of  the 
higher  animals,  after  two  sorts  at  least  of  centers  of 
lower  rank  connected  with  each  other  are  formed — 
sensory  and  motor.  All  reflex  movements,  in  normal 
conditions,  follow  the  sense  -  impression  with  great 
promptness  and  become  conscious  only  after  they  have 
taken  place. 

III.  Instinctive  Movements.  —  These  likewise  re- 
quire the  presence  of  certain  sense-impressions,  and  of 
at  least  three  sorts  of  centers  that  have  morphological 
connection  with  one  another.  Lower  sensory,  higher  sen- 
sory, and  lower  motor  centers  must  co  operate,  in  order 
that  the  simplest  instinctive  movement  may  take  place 
(RSGMP).  For  these  movements  arise  only  after 
a  sensation,  and  then  an  emotion,  that  supplied  the 
motor  impulse,  have  preceded.  The  instinctive  move- 
ment must  be  preceded  by  a  condition  for  which  I  find 
no  more  fitting  designation  than  the  word  disposition 
(JSUmmung).  Yet  the  development  of  the  ganglionic 
cells  of  the  cerebral  cortex  is  not  required  for  all  in- 

15 


198  THE  MIND  OF  THE  CHILD. 

stinctive  movements — e.  g.,  for  sucking,  which  on  that 
account  comes  near  to  the  genuine  reflexes.  All  in- 
stinctive movements  have  an  aim,  but  are  unconscious, 
as  such,  before  and  while  they  take  place ;  and  all  are 
hereditary.  Accordingly,  when  a  human  being  or  an 
animal  executes  a  movement  that  was  never  executed 
by  his  ancestors,  this  movement  can  net  be  instinctive. 
This  serves  to  distinguish  instinctive  from  other  move- 
ments, though  it  is  to  be  borne  in  mind  that  many 
movements  of  the  child  may  have  been  executed  by 
his  ancestors,  which  are  not  in  the  least  instinctive. 
The  ideo-motor  movements  of  Carpenter  are  instinctive 
movements  that  lack  the  characteristic  of  heredity. 

IY.  Ideational  ( Vorgestellte)  Movements.  As  the 
lowest  form  and  the  point  of  departure  of  this  group,  al- 
ready characterized,  are  to  be  taken  imitative  movements 
or  copies  of  others.  These  are  necessarily  dependent  on 
sense-perceptions,  and  require  at  least  four  sorts  of  cen- 
ters— lower  and  higher  sensory,  and  lower  and  higher 
motor  (RSGVWMP  and  V  W  M  P ;  live,  therefore, 
when  G  and  Y  are  separated).  The  centrifugal  paths 
probably  go,  according  to  Meynert,  all  of  them,  from  the 
cortex  through  the  corpora  striata  and  the  lower  por- 
tion of  the  peduncle  of  the  cerebrum,  but  according  to 
others  directly  also  to  the  anterior  columns  of  the  spinal 
marrow.  For  the  production  of  the  most  simple  imita- 
tion, and  so  of  the  simplest  ideational  movement,  the 
sense -impression  must  be  previously  elaborated  as  to 
time,  space,  and  cause,  i.  e.,  wrought  out  to  the  forma- 
tion of  an  idea,  and  this  idea  then  works  with  motor 
force ;  it  is  determinative  for  the  excitement  of  the 
motor  centers  and  the  muscles  that  reproduce  the  sense- 


MOVEMENTS   AS   EXPRESSIONS   OF   WILL.  199 

impression.  Imitations  are,  therefore,  in  the  normal 
waking  condition,  always  conscious  ;  they  can  be  uncon- 
scious only  in  various  conditions  of  partial  sleep.  But 
in  this  case  many  conscious  imitations  have  gone  before. 
A  participation  on  the  part  of  the  cerebral  cortex  is 
certain,  whereas  all  movements  of  the  first  and  second, 
and  many  of  the  third  rank,  take  place  without  that. 

From  these  four  kinds  of  movement  of  the  child 
may  be  derived  all  other  centro-motor  movements — 
passive  and  peripheral,  caused  by  artificial  stimulus  of 
the  motor  nerves  in  their  course  are  not  considered — 
since  we  may  suppose  not  only  the  expressive  move- 
ments, but  also  the  whole  of  the  specifically  voluntary, 
i.  e.,  deliberate  movements,  to  have  arisen  partly  out 
of  the  frequent  repetition,  concurrence,  and  union  of 
the  four  kinds  named,  partly  from  modifications  of 
these  according  to  the  variation  in  the  sense-impressions, 
feelings,  and  ideas.  Physical  causes  only  lie  at  the 
foundation  of  the  first  two  kinds  of  movement ;  the 
last  two  have  also  psychical  causes.  Inhibitions  of  the 
discharges  of  motor  impulses  in  the  child  whose  will  is 
completely  developed,  come  to  pass,  as  in  the  adult,  in 
the  following  manner : 

(1)  R  S  M,   (2)  R  S  W  M,   (3)  R  S  G  M, 

(4)  R  S  G  W  M,   (5)  R  S  G  Y  W  M, 
and  after  very  frequent  repetition  also  without  an  im- 
mediately preceding  excitement  of  the  nerves  of  sense, 
R  S,  of  which  later. 

!No  direct  causes  of  the  child's  movements  can  be 
named  beyond  these  four:  (1),  central,  purely  physical, 
stimuli ;  (2),  peripheral,  purely  physical,  stimuli ;  (3), 
feelings;   (4),  ideas.      They  correspond  to  the   above 


200  THE   MIND   OF   THE   CHILD. 

groups.  If,  notwithstanding,  the  expressive,  or  expres- 
sional  movements,  and  the  deliberate  movements,  are 
hereafter  treated  by  themselves,  it  is  because  of  merely 
external  reasons,  in  order  not  to  complicate  too  much 
the  presentation  of  the  facts,  a  matter  difficult  at  best. 
The  intentional,  voluntary,  deliberate  movements  can 
not  be  separated  physiologically  from  others,  because  no 
decisive  objective  criterion  of  distinction  can  be  given ; 
on  the  contrary,  an  involuntary  movement  becomes 
voluntary,  simply  by  taking  on  something  psychical,  a 
particular  activity  of  the  central  organs  of  the  highest 
rank,  which  alters  nothing  in  the  movement  itself  (un- 
less by  incidentally  delaying  it  somewhat  and  making 
it  less  harmonious).  In  truth,  a  physical  diiference  no 
more  exists  between  a  voluntary  and  an  artificial,  electri- 
cal, nervo-muscular  excitation  than  between  the  vibra- 
tions of  the  air  from  a  vowel-sound  sung  and  one  arti- 
ficially produced.  The  cock  of  the  gun  once  set  going, 
the  shot  follows  invariably  in  the  same  fashion,  no 
matter  whether  it  was  willed  or  not,  whether  it  had  an 
aim  or  not. 

Only  the  muscular  movements  before  birth,  and  in 
the  earliest  period  after  birth,  take  a  somewhat  different 
course  from  that  of  the  later  ones;  for,  according  to 
Soltmann,  the  excitability  of  the  motor  nerves  of  the 
newly-born  is  inferior  to  that  of  adults,  and  does  not 
surpass  that  in  domestic  mammalia  until  several  weeks 
after  birth.  The  muscles  of  the  newly-born  are  like  the 
wearied  muscles  of  adults.  With  this  is  doubtless  con- 
nected the  peculiar  sluggishness  of  the  movements  in  the 
earliest  period — a  sluggishness  that  forms  the  greatest 
contrast  to  the  vivacity  of  a  later  period,  and  that  is  inter- 


IMPULSIVE   MOVEMENTS.  201 

rupted  in  the  transition  period  (as  in  the  case  of  the 
marmot  waking  from  his  winter  sleep)  by  surprising 
stretchings  of  the  arms  and  legs,  following  one  another 
almost  in  jerks. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

IMPULSIVE    MOVEMENTS. 

Although  the  movements  of  the  extremities  in  the 
unborn  and  the  just-born  child  lack  a  characteristic  mark 
by  which  these  movements  might  at  once  be  recognized 
as  impulsive,  they  must,  as  must  all  later  impulsive 
movements,  be  sharply  distinguished  from  the  reflex, 
the  instinctive,  the  imitative,  and  other  ideational  move- 
ments, because  they  lack  all  the  characteristic  signs  of 
the  latter,  as  the  following  comparison  will  show : 

The  movements  of  the  arms  and  legs  of  the  foetus 
and  of  the  newly-born  are  of  a  reflex  character,  when  a 
peripheral  stimulus,  be  it  only  contact  with  the  wall  of 
the  uterus,  immediately  precedes  them.  But  how  does 
the  first  movement  of  the  embryo  come  to  pass  ?  That 
it  can  not  be  occasioned  by  passive  contact  has  been 
proved  to  me  by  means  of  a  close  observation  of  the 
chick  in  the  egg — the  creature  moves  of  itself,  as  I 
found,  from  the  beginning  of  the  fifth  day.  Here  oc- 
cur first  only  movements  of  the  trunk,  then  also  of  the 
extremities  and  head — exactly  as  in  the  unharmed  em- 
bryo of  the  trout,  and  like  what  occurs  in  the  embryo 
of  the  frog  in  the  egg — without  the  least  change  in  the 
surroundings,  and  long  before  the  reflex  excitability  is 


202  THE  MIND  OF  THE  CHILD. 

present  at  all,  the  details  of  which  are  given  in  my  book 
on  the  "  Physiology  of  the  Embryo." 

The  cause  of  these  remarkable  primitive  movements 
of  the  trunk  in  unborn  animals  must  exist  in  the  animals 
themselves,  therefore,  and  can  not  be  derived  from  a  re- 
action of  the  superficial  portions  upon  the  central  ones. 
The  same  must  be  the  case  with  the  human  embryo. 

The  impulsive  movements  are  not  instinctive,  be- 
cause they  have  no  aim.  They  can  not  be  designated 
as  directly  useful  or  advantageous,  appearing,  as  they  do, 
in  an  extremely  irregular  manner,  nor  can  they,  in  gen- 
eral, be  styled  movements  answering  to  a  purpose.  It 
happens,  in  fact,  that  the  very  young  child,  by  throwing 
his  arms  and  legs  violently  about,  directly  harms  him- 
self. In  sleep  he  strikes  his  eye  with  his  hand,  rolls 
himself  aimlessly  hither  and  thither  when  fast  asleep, 
so  that  he  beats  his  head  against  the  hard  wood,  and 
wakes  himself  up,  or  cries  out  in  a  dream.  Once  I  saw 
my  child  (of  sixteen  months),  when  sound  asleep,  sud- 
denly raise  his  left  hand  and  put  it  against  his  left  eye, 
evidently  by  pure  accident,  so  that  the  lid  was  raised. 
The  child  slept  on  with  one  eye  open — the  pupil  much 
contracted — for  a  long  time,  and  then  removed  his  hand 
without  waking,  just  as  accidentally,  upon  which  the 
lid  dropped  again.  The  eye  did  not  move,  notwith- 
standing the  stimulus  of  the  light.  In  this  case  the 
convulsive  raising  of  the  arm  first  into  the  air  and  then 
to  the  eye  is  to  be  called  impulsive  and  almost  danger- 
ous, but  not  instinctive ;  besides,  all  purely  instinctive 
movements  are  co-ordinated,  the  impulsive  movements 
— the  greater  part  of  them — not  co-ordinated. 

The  impulsive  movements  can  not  be  expressive,  for 


IMPULSIVE   MOVEMENTS.  203 

the  reason  that,  before  birth,  states  of  feeling  which 
might  be  expressed  by  these  are  not  to  be  assumed,  and 
the  presumable  seat  of  such  excitations  in  the  brain — 
in  fact,  the  whole  brain — may  be  wanting  without  the 
appearance  of  the  least  change  in  the  impulsive  move- 
ments of  the  extremities,  as  I  have  proved  in  the  case  of 
the  animal  embryo,  and  as  has  been  demonstrated  by  the 
movements  of  headless  and  brainless  human  abortions. 
Neither  does  the  attribute  voluntary  apply  to  them,  be- 
cause no  ideas,  as  yet,  exist  of  their  possible  results  ;  nor 
the  term  imitative,  because  a  model  is  wanting.  More- 
over, Soltmann  has  proved,  by  many  experiments,  that 
in  the  new-born  dog,  after  manifold  stimulus  of  the 
cerebral  cortex  no  movements  at  all  of  the  muscles  of 
the  extremities — the  face,  neck,  back,  belly,  or  tail — are 
produced,  but  that,  on  the  contrary,  these  appear  only 
from  the  tenth  day,  after  the  animals  have  got  their 
sight.  Corresponding  to  this,  the  destruction  of  the 
parts  answering  to  the  motor  departments  of  the  cor- 
tex in  older  animals  had  also  no  eifect  in  creatures  from 
one  to  nine  clays  old.  No  ataxy  followed — no  paraly- 
sis or  disturbance  of  the  muscular  sense,  or  the  like,  even 
up  to  the  time  when  the  electric  excitability  of  the  brain 
existed.  The  muscular  movements  of  new-born  blind 
dogs  are  thus,  for  this  very  reason,  quite  independent  of 
the  gray  cerebral  cortex,  as  well  as  of  peripheral  stimu- 
lus— i.  e.,  they  are  impulsive. 

There  is  nothing  left  but  to  assume  a  cause  of  the 
impulsive  movements  that  is  internal,  given  in  the  or- 
ganic constitution  of  the  motor  ganglionic  cells  of  the 
spinal  marrow,  and  connected,  in  the  early  embryonic 
stages,  with  the  differentiation  and  the  growth  of  those 


204  THE  MIND   OF  THE   CHILD. 

structures  and  of  the  muscular  system.  With  the  for- 
mation of  the  motor  ganglionic  cell  in  the  spinal  mar- 
row and  cervical  marrow  a  certain  quantity  of  potential 
energy  must  accumulate,  which,  by  means  of  the  now  of 
blood  or  of  lymph,  or  possibly  through  the  rapidly  ad- 
vancing formation  of  tissue,  is,  with  remarkable  ease, 
transformed  into  kinetic  energy. 

Difficult  as  it  is  to  specify  with  certainty,  in  later 
life,  movements  of  the  human  being  that  take  place 
without  peripheral  excitement  of  any  sort,  direct  or  in- 
direct, here  we  have  them.  And  it  is  worthy  of  notice 
that  impulsive  movements,  which  outnumber  others  be- 
fore birth  and  perpetually  appear  in  all  the  newly-born, 
diminish  even  during  the  nursing  period,  and  withdraw 
in  proportion  as  the  will  develops,  until  finally,  with 
ever-increasing  voluntary  inhibition  of  the  original 
youthful  impulse  of  movement,  such  muscular  activity 
appears,  in  the  adult,  almost  solely  in  dreamless  sleep. 

In  the  text-books  hardly  any  notice  is  to  be  found  of 
these  peculiar  centro-motor  excitations,  yet  these  are 
precisely  of  the  very  highest  importance  in  the  forma- 
tion of  the  will.  Alexander  Bain  alone  has  (1859) 
distinguished  them  definitely  from  other  movements. 
He  calls  them  automatic  and  spontaneous ;  but,  as  he 
reckons  among  these  the  movements  that  result  from 
muscular  sensations  also,  in  young  children  and  animals 
—movements  which  are  to  be  referred  to  the  condition 
of  the  muscles,  and  so  to  peripheral  excitations — I  can 
not  entirely  agree  with  him ;  for  I  give  the  name  of 
"purely  impulsive,"  and  have  given  it  (in  my  treatise 
"  Psychogenesis,"  *  1880)  exclusively  to  the  muscular 

*  See  "Jour.  Spec.  Phil.,"  April,  1881,  for  English  translation.— Ed. 


IMPULSIVE   MOVEMENTS.  205 

contractions,  proceeding  from  the  foetal  constitution  of 
the  motor  centers,  that  take  place  before  centripetal 
stimuli  operate,  and  so  before  muscular  sensations  can 
exist  and  assert  themselves  in  stimulating  movement. 

The  number  of  such  movements  is  not  great.  Aside 
from  those  of  the  unborn,  which  are  not  to  be  taken  into 
account  here,  the  following  may  be  specified  :  The  out- 
stretching and  bending  of  the  arms  and  legs  of  the  child 
just  born,  with  movements  sometimes  quick,  sometimes 
slow,  generally  non- coordinated,  often  co-ordinated,  is 
nothing  else  than  a  continuation  of  the  intra-uterine 
movements,  and  has,  according  to  my  observations,  a 
striking  resemblance  to  the  extensions  and  flexions  of  the 
limbs  of  animals  suddenly  waking  from  their  deep  win- 
ter sleep.  These,  like  sleeping  children  (and,  indeed,  in 
the  first  half  of  the  second  year  it  is  still  plainly  marked), 
make  genuine  foetal  movements,  which  look  as  if  they 
were  directed  against  some  invisible  resistance.  Con- 
vulsive motion  is  generally  not  so  frequent  in  sleep  as 
slow  contractions,  along  with  spreading  and  bending  of 
the  fingers,  movements  which  likewise  become  more 
rare  toward  the  end  of  the  second  year  (probably  with 
all  sound  children),  and  are  from  the  beginning  mostly 
asymmetrical. 

The  stretching  of  the  limbs  immediately  after 
waking,  which  1  have  seen  repeatedly  in  the  second 
week,  is  often  not  distinguishable  from  these  move- 
ments. It  remains  for  years  almost  unchanged.  In  the 
twentieth  month  I  saw  it  appear  well  marked,  without 
being  followed  by  waking. 

The  movements  of  the  eyes  before  opening  them  at 
waking,  especially  the  lateral  turnings  of  the  pupil,  are 


206  TIIE   MIND  0F   THE  CHILD. 

impulsive.  I  have  seen  these  movements,  which  can 
not  be  dependent  on  light,  even  in  adults.  The  pupils 
moved  rapidly  under  the  lids  this  way  and  that,  and 
indeed  asymmetrically  also.  The  lids,  too,  were  mean- 
while half  opened,  without  any  interruption  of  the  snor- 
ing (in  the  second  month). 

The  movements  of  the  newly-born  and  of  the  infant 
in  the  bath,  which  has  very  nearly  the  same  warmth 
as  the  amniotic  fluid  that  perpetually  surrounds  the 
child  before  birth,  can  not  be  regarded  as  simply  reflex- 
ive in  character.  We  may,  indeed,  see  in  them  already 
the  beginning  of  expressive  movements,  especially  ex- 
pressions of  pleasure,  the  more  so  since  they  are  regu- 
larly accompanied  by  an  extremely  contented  expression 
of  countenance  (protrusion  of  the  lips  also) ;  but  these 
movements  in  the  bath  are  for  a  long  time  (so  late  as 
the  fourth  month) — the  greater  part  of  them — just  as 
purposeless,  senseless,  and  asymmetric  as  on  the  first 
day.  Sometimes  the  trunk  also  takes  part  in  them, 
with  half  twistings  and  raisings,  and  this  as  early  as  the 
second  month. 

There  is  nothing  expressive  in  this.  The  infant  is 
accustomed,  also,  as  late  as  in  the  period  from  the  fourth 
to  the  sixth  month,  just  as  on  the  first  day,  when  he  is 
left  to  himself,  in  the  warm  bath  and  in  falling  asleep, 
to  give  to  his  arms  and  legs  by  preference  the  same  posi- 
tion almost  that  they  had  before  birth.  The  position 
of  the  legs  continues  to  be  that  of  the  foetus  even  much 
longer.  The  muscular  contractions  required  for  that  are 
impulsive. 

A  further  impulsive  muscular  activity  is  brought  to 
our  acquaintance  by  observation  of  the  play  of  feature, 


IMPULSIVE   MOVEMENTS.  207 

still  empty  of  meaning,  in  sleeping  babes.  They  very 
often  move  the  facial  muscles  without  waking,  especially 
the  lips  and  eyelids,  and,  indeed,  for  the  most  part,  with 
bilateral  symmetry,  although  grotesquely,  and  this  with- 
out any  interruption  of  their  snoring. 

Babes  that  are  awake  also  strike  very  vigorously 
about  them  with  their  arms  (in  the  third  quarter  of  the 
first  year)  quite  aimlessly,  while  for  the  legs,  as  a  rule, 
more  frequently,  in  bed  and  bath  especially,  there  is  a 
pretty  symmetrical  alternation  of  stretching  and  bending. 

Yet  it  must  be  noted  that  the  bilaterally  symmetri- 
cal movement  of  the  facial  muscles  and  of  the  arms  in 
reflexes  appears  very  much  earlier  and  is  more  pro- 
nounced than  that  of  the  legs.  And  the  abductions, 
adductions,  supinations,  and  rotations  of  the  arms  un- 
questionably appear  plainly  at  an  earlier  period  than  do 
those  of  the  legs  in  manifold  variety.  In  the  case  of 
a  very  vigorous  child,  I  saw  that  even  in  the  first  half- 
hour  of  its  life  the  lips  were  protruded,  and  the  mouth 
opened  and  shut,  with  perfect  co-ordinate  symmetry. 
The  corrugation  of  the  forehead,  and  the  screwing  up 
of  the  eyes,  in  the  first  hour  of  life,  however,  is  not 
always  impulsive ;  the  latter,  especially,  is  often  of  a 
reflex  character.  Only  the  strange  asymmetrical  grim- 
aces of  new-born  children  when  awake  are  probably 
purely  impulsive.  In  connection  with  this,  I  have  been 
surprised  at  the  immobility  of  the  nose,  which  I  have 
not  seen  moved  earlier  than  in  the  seventh  month ;  of 
course,  I  except  the  very  early  dilating  of  the  nostrils 
by  means  of  the  levator  alse  nasi,  as  a  reflex  and  an 
accompanying  movement  in  snoring,  sucking,  and  dif- 
ficult breathing. 


208  THE   MIND   OF   THE   CHILD. 

Crowing  and  other  similar  exercises  of  the  voice  are 
in  the  first  year  to  be  regarded  in  many  cases  as  dis- 
charges of  accumulated  motor  impulses,  which,  as  well 
as  the  squeaking  of  new-born  animals,  and  the  peeping 
of  the  chick  in  the  egg,  can  not  have  their  origin  merely 
in  peripheral  excitement.  Precisely  as  the  muscles  of 
the  arms  and  legs,  of  the  face  and  of  the  eyes,  so  those 
of  respiration,  of  the  tongue,  and  of  the  larnyx  are  set 
in  activity  without  purpose  by  a  centro-motor  impulse. 
Iti  the  first  year  the  exercise  of  the  muscles  is  with  all 
healthy  children  the  beneficial  result  of  such  animation, 
which,  considered  in  itself,  seems  entirely  purposeless. 
An  adult  lying  on  his  back  could  not  make  these  per- 
sistent movements,  that  are  made  by  the  seven-to-twelve 
months  child,  without  a  decided  feeling  of  fatigue  ;  and, 
when  we  consider  that  the  child,  in  addition,  turns  his 
head  attentively,  and  cries  at  every  noise,  at  every 
change  in  his  neighborhood,  the  total  of  the  nervous 
excitements  seems  relatively  much  greater  in  the  one- 
year-old  child  than  in  the  adult,  who  makes  fewer  super- 
fluous movements,  and  has  become  dull  to  ordinary 
sense-impressions. 

Here  belong,  further,  "  accompanying  "-movements 
made  by  little  children. 

In  individual  cases  it  can  hardly  be  determined 
whether  movements  wholly  useless  (like  those  described 
on  pages  23  and  24),  especially  of  the  facial  muscles, 
are  merely  impulsive,  or  are  the  remains  of  an  extinct 
instinct,  or  are  accompanying-movements.  We  have 
an  example  in  the  holding  out  of  the  little  finger  apart 
from  the  others  at  the  first  attempts  of  the  child  to  carry 
the  soup-spoon  to  the  mouth  without   help.     In   the 


IMPULSIVE   MOVEMENTS.  209 

eighteenth  month  this  graceful  movement  was  executed 
by  my  boy  without  the  least  incitement,  and  without  any 
one's  having  made  the  movement  before  in  his  neigh 
borhood,  absolutely  "  of  himself.'"  Surprising  as  it 
seemed  at  the  beginning — it  occurred  often  from  that 
time  on — I  can  not  admit  that  an  imitation  of  unknown 
examples  is  at  the  bottom  of  this,  because  the  child  did 
not  give  the  least  attention  to  his  finger,  but,  on  the 
contrary,  was  wholly  absorbed  in  carrying  the  contents 
of  the  spoon  to  his  mouth.  The  extending  of  the  little 
linger  straight  into  the  air  probably  came  in  as  an  ac- 
companying-movement, but  not  in  accord  with  the 
movement  of  the  other  fingers,  without  the  cognizance 
of  the  child.  In  the  third  year  it  was  only  very  rarely 
to  be  seen,  and  then  also  it  was  manifestly  uncon- 
scious. 

Another  still  more  surprising  movement,  wholly 
purposeless,  and  withal  quite  bilaterally  symmetrical, 
was  observed  by  me  frequently  in  the  first  year,  and 
even  in  the  last  month  of  it.  When  my  child,  namely, 
lying  on  his  back  on  a  soft  couch,  received  the  nursing- 
bottle  which  the  nurse  tilted  for  him  holding  it  in 
her  hand,  he  used  almost  invariably  to  stretch  out 
his  closed  hands  upward,  with  the  lower  arm  bent  at 
right  angles  to  the  upper  arm,  which  rested  on  the  cush- 
ion or  the  coverlet.  And  in  this  strange  attitude  the 
child  remained  until  he  had  drained  the  bottle.  If  he 
was  obliged  (toward  the  end  of  the  first  year)  to  use  one 
hand  for  giving  the  bottle  a  different  direction  or  for 
holding  it,  then  the  arm  that  did  not  take  part  in  this 
remained  in  its  peculiar  position.  This  has  no  resem- 
blance at  all  to  the  position  of  seizing ;  seems  rather  to 


210  THE   MIXD   OF   THE   CHILD. 

be  an  accompanying-movement  going  along  with  ex- 
treme strain  of  the  attention.  When  the  child  was 
allowed  to  drink  out  of  a  glass  (in  the  sixteenth  month) 
that  was  held  to  his  mouth,  he  would  then  stretch  out 
his  hands  and  spread  all  the  lingers,  and  while  drinking 
would  not  cease  from  the  muscular  contractions  neces- 
sary to  those  movements ;  this  had  a  very  peculiar  look, 
and  was  more  suggestive  of  grasping. 

Further,  all  little  children  make  unsteady  accom- 
panying-movements of  various  sorts,  especially  when 
they  hear  new  sounds — music,  singing.  They  like  to 
move  the  arms  up  and  down  at  such  times.  In  play, 
too,  when  the  cover  of  a  pitcher  is  put  on  and  off  before 
their  eyes,  there  is  often  a  corresponding  movement 
with  the  hand,  executed  while  the  cover  is  clapped  to 
and  subsequently  (eighth  and  ninth  months),  after  the 
first  observations  have  once  been  made  by  the  children. 
Here  we  have  to  do  not  with  attempts  at  imitation,  but 
with  pure  accompanying-movements.  The  child  sees 
and  hears  or  tastes  something  new,  strains  his  attention, 
and  has  a  feeling  (an  agreeable  one)  of  gratified  curiosity. 
This  feeling  leads  to  the  motor  discharge.  Such  a  move- 
ment showed  itself  in  my  boy  frequently  in  the  fourth 
year,  especially  with  new  impressions  of  taste.  His 
right  forearm  would  go  sidew'se  hither  and  thither  from 
two  to  four  times  in  a  second,  while  he  was  tasting  a 
new  kind  of  food  that  he  desired. 

All  accompanying-movements  of  this  kind,  which 
approximate  to  the  reflexes,  are  no  more  purely  impul- 
sive, because  they  require  a  peripheral  excitement,  and 
because  feelings  co-operate  in  them.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  movements  of  the  head  and  legs  in  new-born  pup- 


REFLEX    MOVEMENTS.  211 

pies,  and  of  most  new-born  mammals  in  general  (move- 
ments called  droll  and  comical  on  account  of  their  strik- 
ing awkwardness),  are  probably  purely  impulsive.  And 
the  trembling  of  these  creatures  in  a  warm  bed  belongs 
here  also  (p.  171). 


CHAPTER  X. 

REFLEX    MOVEMENTS. 

The  fact  firmly  established  by  me  in  the  case  of 
numerous  animal  embryos,  that  no  reflex  movements 
can  be  elicited  in  early  stages  of  development  by  how- 
ever strong  and  varied  stimulus,  whereas  movements, 
especially  bendings  and  stretchings  of  the  trunk,  regu- 
larly take  place  from  internal  causes,  proves  the  untena- 
bleness  of  a  wide-spread  view,  according  to  which  all 
movements  of  the  newly-born  are  of  a  reflex  character. 
The  human  being  just  born  has,  in  fact,  in  many  re- 
spects, a  less  reflex  excitability  than  the  infant  manifests 
later,  and  yet  he  moves  in  a  lively  manner. 

Notwithstanding  this,  many  reflex  movements  of 
the  newly-born  are  already  strongly  marked,  answering 
to  the  reflex  excitability  that  increases  rapidly  before 
birth  in  the  last  stage  of  the  foetal  development ;  and 
they  have  a  very  great  psychogenetic  significance,  be- 
cause through  their  frequent  repetition  the  harmonious 
co-working  of  many  muscles  as  means  of  warding  off 
what  might  injure  or  be  unpleasant  is  soon  perfected, 
and  the  development  of  the  will  is  made  possible 
through  these  co-ordinations.  Then,  later,  is  manifested, 
in  unmistakable    fashion,  the  power   of    the   growing 


212  THE  MIND  OF  THE  CHILD. 

cerebral  will-mechanism  in  the  inhibition  of  reflexes. 
These  must,  for  this  reason,  have  occurred  previously 
in  great  numbers,  so  that  again  and  again  harmful  re- 
sults have  arisen,  and  the  experience,  e.  g.,  has  been 
made,  "  Crying  does  no  good,  crying  brings  harm  ; 
better,  then,  keep  down  the  violent,  loud  expiration." 
Through  logical  operations  of  this  sort — long  before 
gaining  the  power  of  speech — the  foundation  is  laid  for 
self-control,  which  rests  essentially  upon  the  inhibition 
of  reflex  movements. 

The  beginning  of  reflex  muscular  contractions  comes 
in  the  period  before  birth.  For  it  is  possible  through 
outward  impressions,  even  by  means  of  continued  gentle 
stroking  {Palpiren),  to  produce  and  to  augment  move- 
ments of  the  foetus  in  the  more  advanced  foetal  period. 
From  my  observations,  I  regard  it  as  certain,  also,  that 
rough  handling  during  the  birth,  especially  where  the 
amniotic  fluid  is  scanty,  may  produce  premature  respira- 
tory movements  in  the  child,  and  thereby  endanger  its 
life — a  thing  for  midwives  and  physicians  to  heed.  The 
embryo  begins  early  to  swallow.  The  chick  in  the  egg 
makes  movements  of  swallowing  on  the  eleventh  day  ; 
and  before  anything  of  the  creature  is  visible — on  the 
twenty-first  day  of  the  brooding,  according  to  my  ob- 
servations— can  be  brought,  by  means  of  a  prick  of  a 
needle,  by  cooling,  and  other  harsh  treatment,  to  loud 
peeping;  the  prematurely-born  rabbit  may  be  made  to 
squeak  by  electric  stimulation,  provided  only  respiration 
has  begun.  I  have  even  seen  the  embryo  of  the  Guinea- 
pig  in  an  unbroken  ovary  (in  a  warm,  very  much  di- 
luted solution  of  common  salt)  before  a  breath  had  been 
drawn — the  placental  circulation  being  maintained — not 


REFLEX    MOVEMENTS.  213 

only  make  bilaterally  symmetrical  reflexes  with  the  ex- 
tremities on  being  lightly  touched,  but  I  have  repeatedly 
proved,  also,  that  in  this  case  the  touching  of  the  lips, 
especially  of  the  whiskers  (/Spu?'haare),  produces  an  ex- 
tremely well-adapted  movement  of  rubbing  with  the 
fore-paw  of  the  same  side  — in  the  amniotic  fluid — a 
movement,  accordingly,  which  is,  later,  very  frequent 
with  the  Guinea-pig,  and  which  is  proved  by  this  ob- 
servation to  be  absolutely  hereditary.  But  if  the  touch- 
ing of  the  lip  or  any  portion  of  the  skin  is  carried  so  far 
as  to  become  pricking  or  pressure,  then  an  inhalation 
takes  place,  and  with  that  the  reflex  activity  is  modified. 

A  series  of  new  reflexes  begins  also  with  the  birth 
of  the  human  being,  through  breathing. 

The  first  cry  of  the  new-born  child  was,  indeed,  for- 
merly regarded  as  anything  but  reflex,  yet  it  is  in  the 
highest  degree  probable  that  this  first  loud  expiration  is 
a  pure  reflex  effect.  Kant  wrote  (certainly  without  hav- 
ing himself  observed  children  and  animals  just  born) : 
"  The  outcry  that  is  heard  from  a  child  scarcely  born 
lias  not  the  tone  of  lamentation,  but  of  indignation  and 
of  aroused  wrath  ;  not  because  anything  gives  him  pain, 
but  because  something  frets  him ;  presumably  because 
he  wants  to  move,  and  feels  his  inability  to  do  it  as  a 
fetter  that  deprives  him  of  his  freedom.  What  can  be 
the  intent  of  Nature  in  causing  the  child  to  come  with 
loud  outcry  into  the  world,  when  both  for  child  and 
mother  in  a  savage  condition  of  nature,  this  is  attended 
with  the  utmost  danger?  No  animal,  however,  except 
man  (as  he  now  is),  makes  loud  announcement  of  his 
existence  at  the  time  of  his  birth." 

This  remarkable  view  has  been  commented  on  in 
16 


214  THE  MIND  OF   THE  CHILD. 

various  ways,  and  even  at  the  present  time  many  persons 
think  that  the  whimpering  and  crying  of  the  child  just 
born  have  a  higher  psychical  significance.  All  interpre- 
tations of  this  sort  go  to  wreck  upon  the  repeatedly  es- 
tablished fact  that  new-born  children  without  any  brain 
at  all  cry  out,  and  many  healthy  new-born  children  at 
their  coming  into  the  world,  as  Darwin  reports,  do  not 
cry,  but  sneeze.  In  both  cases  the  expirational  reflex 
must  be  occasioned  by  a  strong  peripheral  excitement — 
e.  g.,  the  sudden  cooling  off  of  the  skin,  and  the  rubbing 
of  the  back.  For  I  have  observed  in  the  case  of  many 
new-born  animals,  especially  Guinea-pigs,  that  they 
make  their  voice  heard,  with  the  same  machine-like  reg- 
ularity as  does  the  frog  deprived  of  brain,  if  you  simply 
stroke  their  backs.  It  is  known,  too,  that  many  ani- 
mals cry  out  during  birth,  and  immediately  thereafter. 
Calves  especially  bleat  normally,  not  only  directly  after 
they  have  left  the  bodies  of  the  mothers,  but,  as  expe- 
rienced farmers  assure  me,  often  even  during  birth. 
Goats  often  cry  out  directly  after  birth. 

The  purely  reflexive  movement  of  sneezing  is  fre- 
quent with  the  newly-born  and  with  infants.  It  demon- 
strates the  existence  of  a  very  firm  connection,  long 
hereditary,  of  the  nasal  branches  of  the  trigeminus  with 
the  motor  expiratory  nerves,  and  is  remarkable,  as  sob- 
bing is,  for  the  reason  that  it  requires  an  inborn  complex 
co-ordination  of  many  muscles.  In  observations  con- 
cerning reflex  excitability,  the  sneezing  of  infants  is  a 
much  better  sign  of  the  effect  of  stimulus  than  are  other 
movements.  On  the  thirty-eighth  day  I  saw  sneezing 
produced  by  some  drops  of  lukewarm  water  that  trickled 
over  the  forehead  ;  on  the  forty  third  day  I  saw  that  par- 


REFLEX    MOVEMENTS.  215 

tides  of  witch-meal  caused  sneezing  ;  on  the  hundred  and 
seventieth  mere  blowing  on  the  child  had  the  same  effect. 
Adults  do  not  readily  show  such  sensibility.  In  sneez- 
ing, the  eyes  even  of  little  children  are  invariably  closed 
(just  so  it  is  with  apes,  according  to  Darwin) ;  why,  is 
not  satisfactorily  explained.  Donders  found  that  the 
contents  of  the  blood-vessels  of  the  eye  are  lessened  by 
the  closing  of  the  lid.  The  shutting  of  the  eyes  in  vio- 
lent expiration  of  breath  seems  from  this  to  have  a  pur- 
pose. But  it  is  purely  reflex  in  character.  F.  H. 
Champneys,  who  observed  his  son  throughout  the  first 
nine  months,  found  that  sneezing  was  always  accom- 
panied by  violent  movements  of  all  the  limbs,  the  legs 
being  drawn  up,  and  the  forearms  bent  with  the  elbows 
pushed  forward  ;  noteworthy  symmetrical  accompany- 
ing-movements, which,  however,  do  not  appear  in  all 
infants. 

Other  innate  forms  of  loud  expiration  of  breath  are 
common  with  very  small  children,  as  is  well  known,  but 
are  likewise  of  very  little  or  no  psychogenetic  signifi- 
cance; thus,  wheezing  or  snuffling,  a  phenomenon  ac- 
companying sucking;  snoring  (first  observed  by  me  on 
the  twenty-fourth  day),  yawning  with  wide-stretched 
mouth,  a  striking  habit  in  all  infants  in  the  early  period, 
and  wdiich,  merely  as  an  augmented  and  intensified  man- 
ner of  drawing  in  the  breath,  helps  to  bring  the  respira- 
tory apparatus,  little  by  little,  into  regular  activity,  inas- 
much as  it  probably  comes  on  invariably  after  a  succes- 
sion of  scanty  inhalations,  by  way  of  compensation,  after 
a  stronger  respiratory  stimulus,  or  because  the  excita- 
bility of  the  respirational  center  has  in  the  mean  time 
increased.     I  once  saw  a  child  yawn  on  the  seventh  day 


216  THE   MIXD   OF   THE   CHILD. 

of  its  life,  stretching  its  mouth  very  wide,  and  at  the 
same  time  screwing  the  eyelids  together;  and  it  kept  this 
attitude  for  some  seconds.  This  child  generally  dis- 
torted its  face  in  a  remarkable  manner  when  it  had  been 
disturbed  in  going  to  sleep.  But  a  direct  physiological 
connection  of  yawning  with  the  dropping  of  the  lids 
and  with  sleepiness  is  not  demonstrated,  unless  we  count 
as  such  the  increased  demand  for  oxygen,  caused  by  the 
fatigue  of  the  respiratory  muscles  also,  which  may  pro- 
duce a  deeper  inspiration.  Here,  too,  belongs  the  cough- 
ing that  I,  in  one  case,  heard  with  perfect  distinctness, 
in  the  first  hour  of  life.  Clearing  the  throat  is,  on  the 
contrary,  acquired,  as  Darwin  rightly  observes.  Still, 
in  very  young  babes,  who  cough  somewhere  about  the 
fourth  day,  involuntary  coughing  has,  as  a  matter  of 
fact,  the  same  effect  as  voluntary  clearing  the  throat  has 
later.  The  early  involuntary  pushing  out  of  the  nipple 
by  means  of  the  tongue,  after  nursing,  is,  in  fact,  much 
more  adroit  than  the  later  voluntary  spitting  out  of  the 
skin  of  a  grape  or  gooseberry  that  has  been  crushed  and 
sucked  out  in  the  mouth.  Yet  the  latter  complicated 
movement  was  executed  quite  skillfully  in  the  nine- 
teenth month  (Sigismund). 

Sobbing  and  sighing,  two  psychically  characteristic 
forms  of  expiration  in  later  life,  have  in  the  infant  not 
the  least  expressional  significance.  Both  make  their 
appearance  late,  under  normal  conditions.  I  observed 
sighing  in  the  seventh  month,  and  that  repeatedly  after 
the  child  had  been  brought  from  the  recumbent  to  the 
upright,  half -sitting  position.  Sighing  often  appeared 
in  my  child — even  in  the  second  year — when  he  was  in 
a  contented  mood,  and  this  without  its  being  an  imitation. 


REFLEX  MOVEMENTS.  217 

The  respiratory  movements  go  on  at  the  beginning 
of  life,  in  general,  without  any  relation  whatever  to 
the  emotions.  The  heaving  of  the  bosom  in  mental 
agitation,  the  holding  of  the  breath  under  the  strain  of 
attention — these  things  do  not  take  place  in  the  very 
earliest  youth.  The  respiration  of  the  infant  is,  how- 
ever, very  irregular  in  the  first  weeks,  so  that  there  is 
an  illusory  appearance  of  such  phenomena.  In  the 
newly -born,  the  breathing,  now  violent,  now  again 
quite  weak,  interrupted  by  intervals  in  which  the 
breathing  ceases,  then  rhythmical,  then  soon  after 
alternately  deep  and  light,  approaches  but  slowly  the 
later  type. 

At  the  close  of  the  seventh  week  the  number  of 
respirations  made  by  my  boy  in  sleep  was  twenty -eight 
to  the  minute ;  in  the  thirteenth  week  twenty-seven. 
But  for  months  yet  the  breathing  was  irregular.  After 
four  or  five  quick  inspirations,  would  often  follow  a 
cessation  interrupted  by  separate,  deep  breathings.  The 
older  the  child,  so  much  the  more  regular  the  move- 
ments of  breathing  and  the  less  their  frequency.  Dur- 
ing the  teething-fever  the  number  went  up  (in  the 
ninth  month)  temporarily  to  forty  and  forty -two 
in  a  minute,  and  in  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth 
months,  during  sleep,  amounted  to  twenty-two  and 
twenty -five  a  minute.  From  this  period  on,  the 
character  of  it  was  predominantly  regular :  in  the 
twentieth  month  it  was  twenty-two  and  twenty-three. 
But  whenever  there  is  a  noise  made  that  is  not  quite 
loud  enough  to  wake  the  quietly-sleeping  infant,  then 
the  frequency  of  the  breaths  immediately  increases  to 
twenty-five  and  twenty-six,  to  fall  again  soon  to  twenty- 


218  TIIE   MIND   OF   THE   CHILD. 

two  and  twenty-three.  This  extraordinary  reflex  sensi- 
bility of  the  respiratory  apparatus  I  have  often  observed 
(p.  83).  It  is  noteworthy  because  it  proves  the  existence 
of  a  reflex  arc  from  the  auditory  nerve  to  the  inspiratory 
nerves  (of  the  intercostal  muscles  and  the  diaphram). 

The  very  slow  consolidation  of  the  entire  respiratory 
mechanism  in  all  infants  is  certainly  connected  with 
this  great  reflex  excitability.  In  later  life  stronger  and 
more  numerous  stimuli  may  operate  without  the  least 
change  in  the  respiration.  Moreover,  since  breathing, 
like  the  activity  of  the  heart,  gradually  settles  into  a  reg- 
ular rate  without  the  participation  of  the  will,  it  affords 
an  excellent  example  of  the  development  of  a  very  com- 
plicated, co-ordinated,  involuntary  muscular  activity  of 
which  no  trace  exists,  under  normal  conditions,  before 
birth.  This  co-ordination,  however,  as  it  begins  directly 
after  birth,  in  consequence  of  sufficiently  strong  excite- 
ment of  the  cutaneous  nerves,  as  an  imperfect  periodical 
reflex,  is  not  only  hereditary  but  inborn,  yet  not  so  per- 
fect as  after  it  has  been  longer  manifested. 

Of  reflexes  not  periodical  those  especially  frequent 
in  other  departments  are,  in  infants,  vomiting,  choking, 
and  hiccough — all  three  inborn  movements,  which  are 
performed  at  once  in  the  same  manner  as  they  are  later. 

In  choking,  children  of  one  to  five  days  old  stretch 
forth  the  tongue,  with  a  reflexive  elevation  of  the 
larynx,  and  make  grimaces,  as  adults  do  when  they  wish 
by  a  choking  movement  to  throw  out  a  foreign  sub- 
stance from  the  oesophagus.  The  usual  occasion  of 
choking  in  infants  seems  to  be  accumulation  of  mucus, 
but  it  may  also  be  produced  by  tickling  the  palate  and 
the  roots  of  the  tongue,  or  by  moistening  them  with 


REFLEX   MOVEMENTS.  219 

bitter  substances,  on  the  first  day  (pp.  98,  121) ;  nay, 
even  by  moistening  the  upper  lip  with  bad-smelling 
substances  (p.  131),  and  later  by  the  sight  of  loathed 
food  (p.  126). 

Vomiting  occurs  both  after  overfilling  the  stomach 
with  unsuitable  liquid  (even  nurse's  milk)  and  on  put- 
ting the  finger  into  the  throat.  In  the  fifth  week  I 
saw  both  cases,  and  observed  how,  without  any  external 
stimulus,  the  milk  that  had  been  swallowed  shortly 
before  sprang  forth  like  a  fountain,  three  or  four  inches 
high,  from  the  mouth  of  the  boy  as  he  lay  on  his  back. 
Eructation  is  not  infrequent  even  in  the  first  week. 

Hiccough  is  observed  to  be  very  frequent  in  children 
in  the  first  three  months ;  much  more  frequent  than  in 
adults.  I  have  observed  it  within  the  first  twenty  hours 
after  the  birth  of  the  child.  It  can  be  stopped  by  put- 
ting upon  the  tongue  half  a  spoonful  of  lukewarm 
sweetened  watei.  After  the  swallowing  of  this  small 
quantity,  a  very  obstinate  case  of  hiccough  that  I  saw 
(in  the  tenth  week)  yielded;  but  I  find  no  explanation  for 
the  effect  of  this  simple  remedy.  For  the  diversion  of 
attention  is  hardly  sufficient  here,  since  other  sense-im- 
pressions do  not  produce  the  same  result.  The  compli- 
cated mechanism  for  the  movements  of  swallowing  is 
inborn,  and  already  performs  its  functions  in  man  and 
in  animals  long  before  birth. 

More  important  than  all  these  typical  reflexes,  in 
their  bearing  on  the  genesis  of  mind,  are  the  already- 
mentioned  reflexive  eye-movements  and  the  movements 
of  the  limbs  and  of  the  head,  following  irritation  of  the 
skin,  particularly  by  blowing  and  by  tickling,  and 
sound-impressions.     Of  the  first  sort  frequent  mention 


220  TIIE   MIND   OF  THE   CHILD. 

has  been  made  in  the  iirst  part  of  this  book ;  in  regard 
to  the  last  I  was  in  hopes  of  finding,  by  frequent  obser- 
vation of  sleeping  children,  confirmation  of  the  con- 
formity to  law  that  Pfliiger  discovered,  such  as  exists 
in  animals  deprived  of  their  brain.  I  was  strengthened 
in  my  view  after  the  first  experiment  (on  the  fourteenth 
day  of  my  child's  life),  for,  upon  touching  the  left  tem- 
ple of  the  sleeping  child,  he  started,  and  directed  the  left 
hand  toward  the  place  that  was  touched  (law  of  the  con- 
duction on  the  same  side  for  unilateral  reflexes).  This 
experiment,  repeated  at  intervals,  yielded  the  same  result 
three  times.  In  the  same  way,  in  the  fourteenth  week, 
when  I  touched  the  right  eye  on  the  inner  corner  with 
the  finger-nail,  the  right  hand  of  the  child  went  directly 
to  that  spot  and  rubbed  the  eye ;  but,  when  I  made  the 
touch  on  the  left,  the  left  hand  remained  quiet.  It  is 
any  way  an  accident  that  the  little  hand  found  exactly 
the  right  place,  for  in  other  cases  it  went  by.  AVhen 
the  child  was  awake,  no  convulsive,  no  reflex  movement 
took  place  upon  the  same  sort  of  contact,  and  the 
repetition  of  the  touching  of  the  sleeping  child  on  other 
days  had  likewise  often  this  negative  result,  or  else  ir- 
regular movements  of  rubbing  as  a  consequence  (p.  101). 
When  in  the  seventh  week  I  touched  the  left  temple  of 
the  child  as  he  lay  quiet,  his  left  arm  remained  motion- 
less, but  the  right  arm  made  an  energetic  movement 
forward,  upward,  and  to  the  left,  although  the  left  arm 
lay  perfectly  free.  Whence  this  contra-lateral  response? 
Perhaps  the  sensorium  was  active  and  did  not  yet  local- 
ize accurately,  or  the  reflex  path  of  the  same  side  was 
less  easily  passable.  Such  unexpected  responsive  move- 
ments I  have  often  perceived  in  the  first  two  years,  and 


REFLEX   MOVEMENTS.  221 

that  as  late  as  the  thirty-fifth  month  in  a  sleeping  child, 
even  when  the  tickling  was  on  the  left,  the  right  arm 
lying  under  the  body  of  the  sleeping  child  and  the  left 
arm  being  free. 

This  observation  is  thus  exactly  opposed  to  that  of 
Pfliiger  (1853),  who  tickled  a  sleeping  boy  of  thre^ 
years,  on  the  right  nostril,  and  saw  that  he  raised  the 
right  hand  in  defense,  and  rubbed  the  right  nostril. 
When  tickled  on  the  left,  the  child  took  the  left  hand. 
Then  Pfliiger  laid  both  arms  of  the  boy,  who  lay  on  his 
back  asleep,  gently  near  the  body,  held  the  left  arm 
firmly  with  a  light  pressure,  on  a  pillow  placed  upon  it, 
and  holding  a  feather  in  his  free  hand,  tickled  the  left 
nostril  of  the  little  fellow.  Immediately  the  left  arm 
was  moved,  but  could  not  be  brought  to  the  face.  The 
child  then  made  a  grimace,  and  tried,  after  repeated 
tickling  on  the  left,  to  press  the  left  nostril  with  the 
right  hand,  "whereas  he  had  at  other  times  always 
chosen  the  hand  of  the  same  side,  however  much  and 
however  long  he  was  tickled,  until  he  awoke."  The 
"always  "  can  not  hold  good  universally. 

But  I  often  saw  the  reflex  of  the  same  side  in  the 
second  year  also.  Thus,  in  the  seventeenth  month,  I 
touched  the  right  nostril  on  the  inside,  while  the  child 
was  asleep ;  at  once  the  right  hand  went  to  it  and 
rubbed,  and,  when  I  had  touched  the  left  nostril,  that 
was  immediately  rubbed  with  the  left  hand.  Then,  on 
the  repetition  of  the  experiment,  there  was  no  longer 
any  responsive  movement  of  the  sleeping  child. 

O.  Rosenbach  also  has  observed  the  action  of  reflexes 
in  sleeping  children,  and  has  ascertained  especially  that 
some  of  them  are  lacking  during  sound  sleep  (those  of 


222  THE  MIND   OF  THE   CHILD. 

the  abdomen,  the  cremaster,  and  patella),  but  he  does 
not  give  the  age  of  the  children. 

At  any  rate,  the  experiments  that  I  instituted  suffice 
to  show  that,  without  detriment  to  the  general  validity 
of  Pfliiger's  laws  of  reflexes,  circuitous  reflex  routes 
must  often  be  tried  by  little  children,  many  experiences 
must  first  be  had  before  those  laws  are  manifested  in 
their  purity.  Many  times,  to  be  sure,  the  experiments 
upon  children  sleeping  soundly  surprised  me  at  once 
by  their  conformity  to  law.  Yet  simple  experiments  of 
that  sort  that  I  repeated  upon  several  children,  and  the 
observation  of  the  independent  movements  of  arms  and 
hands  in  the  newly-born,  have  given  me  but  few  evi- 
dences of  the  existence  of  perfectly-developed  inborn 
reflexes  of  the  corresponding  side  after  stimulus  on  one 
side.  The  trigeminus  facialis  reflex  is  such  a  case,  since 
upon  the  touching  of  one  eye,  in  the  first  hour  of  life, 
very  often  this  one  only  is  shut;  another  case  is  the 
spreading  of  the  toes  when  the  sole  of  the  foot  is 
touched  (pp.  104,  225).  The  law  of  symmetry  of  the 
reflexes  is  recognized  as  valid  for  the  just-born,  in  the 
dilatation  of  both  pupils,  when  only  one  eye  is  shaded ; 
in  the  closing  of  both  eyes  at  the  rude  touch  of  one 
eye  or  one  nostril ;  in  movements  of  both  feet  when  the 
sole  of  one  foot  is  touched  (p.  104) ;  so  likewise  the 
appearance  of  the  reflex  in  unequal  degrees  of  intensity 
on  both  sides  in  bilateral  reflexes  following  stimulus  of 
one  side  is  confirmed  by  the  stronger  movements  of 
the  eyelid  (after  the  tickling  of  one  nostril)  as  well  as  of 
the  leg  upon  the  irritated  side  (p.  104).  But  the  law 
of  inter-sensitive  motor  movement  still  needs  proof ; 
for,  according  to  it,  no  reflex  from  the  trigeminus  to  the 


KEFLEX    MOVEMENTS.  223 

motor  oculi  ought  to  occur.  But  if  a  child  be  waked 
by  a  touch  of  the  eyelid,  the  raising  of  the  lid  seems 
to  occur  through  reflexive  action.  The  question  comes 
up  whether  movements  do  not  always  take  place  before 
the  opening  of  the  eyes.  I  have  not  liked  to  experi- 
ment in  regard  to  this,  as  I  do  not  wake  children  with- 
out urgent  reasons. 

Further,  in  the  case  of  two  children,  who  in  the 
first  half-year  suffered  from  local  itching  eruptions  of 
the  skin  (milk-crust),  the  reflexive  movements  of  the 
limbs  were  quite  irregular  and  at  the  beginning  abso- 
lutely unsuited,  afterward  not  in  all  cases  suited,  to  re- 
lieve the  pain  or  the  feeling  of  tickling ;  at  all  events, 
apart  from  the  turnings  of  the  head,  which  was  the 
most  tormented,  and  which  was  moved  hither  and 
thither  like  a  pendulum  when  the  arms  were  confined 
(fourth  month).  Many  times  when  the  arms  had  es- 
caped from  the  tethers  in  the  night,  the  face  was 
scratched  to  bleeding  in  several  places  that  were  evi- 
dently not  troublesome  (fourth  to  sixth  month).  At 
every  unguarded  moment  the  hands  went  to  the  head  ; 
and  the  skin,  even  the  sound  part  of  it,  was  rubbed  and 
scratched.  These  scratching  movements  can  not  be  in- 
born, they  must  be  acquired.  The  result  of  an  acci- 
dental contact  of  the  head  and  hand  appearing  in  the 
diminution  of  the  tickling  sensation  must  have  induced 
a  preference  of  the  movement  of  the  hand  to  the  head 
among  all  sorts  of  movements ;  for  in  the  concurrence  of 
all  muscular  movements  those  are  preferred — i.  e.,  most 
frequently  repeated — which  bring  with  them  feelings  of 
pleasure,  and  which  remove  whatever  excites  unpleasant 
feeling,  while  the  movements  that  prevent  feelings  of 


224  THE   MIND   OF   THE   CHILD. 

pleasure  and  those  that  cause  unpleasant  feeling  become 
more  and  more  rare. 

The  mentioned  reflexive  reaching  toward  the  head 
had  now,  in  one  of  the  two  cases  before  us,  a  peculiar  asso- 
ciation as  its  further  consequence  (in  regard  to  the  other 
case  there  is  lack  of  observation).  When,  namely,  the 
eczema  became  less  and  at  last  had  entirely  disappeared, 
the  lifting  of  the  arms  along  with  the  carrying  of  the 
hands  to  the  head  still  continued,  showing  itself  every 
time  that  anything  disagreeable  occurred  to  the  child,  or 
when  he  refused  to  do  anything — e.  g.,  when  he  did  not 
want  to  play  any  more  or  to  play  at  all.  Manifestly  we 
have  to  do  here  with  a  primitive  process  of  induction  or 
generalization.  Formerly  that  movement  was  regularly 
executed  in  connection  with  the  disagreeable  cutaneous 
sensation  on  the  head  (up  to  the  sixth  month) ;  now  that 
sensation,  indeed,  is  wanting,  but  the  movement  is  so 
firmly  associated  with  the  quality  "  disagreeable "  of 
that  feeling,  that  it  is  executed  even  when  something 
else  appears  with  the  same  quality  (ninth  month).  Thus 
individual  expressional  movements  arise  from  acquired 
reflexes,  which  disappear  again  later  because  they  re- 
main individual. 

In  direct  contrast  to  the  acquired  reflex  movements, 
stands  the  inborn  spreading  of  the  toes  that  follows  the 
touching  (tickling,  stroking)  of  the  soles  of  the  feet, 
which  I  saw  just  as  plainly  marked  in  new-born  chil- 
dren five  minutes  after  birth,  and  in  the  first  days,  as 
in  the  fourth  week.  Darwin  mentions  that,  after  the 
touching  of  the  sole  with  a  bit  of  paper  on  the  seventh 
day,  the  foot  was  suddenly  jerked  away,  and  the  toes 
curled   up.     I  have  not  been  able  to  find  out  under 


REFLEX    MOVEMENTS.  225 

what  circumstances  this  reflex  or  the  spreading  of  the 
toes  at  the  touch  of  the  sole  of  the  foot  occurs  (cf.  p. 
10-i),  but  I  observed  that  as  early  as  the  eighth  week, 
tickling  of  the  sole  was  followed  by  laughing.  This  so- 
called  reflexive  (" refledorische")  laughing  (p.  145)  is 
not  a  regular,  absolutely  pure  reflex  act,  because  it  is 
dependent  upon  the  previously  existing  mood. 

The  reflexive  starting,  quivering,  and  stretching  out 
of  the  arms  at  a  sudden,  unexpected,  strong  impression, 
especially  a  sound-impression,  the  starting  back  with 
the  head  and  the  upper  part  of  the  body  at  a  sudden 
approach — fright,  in  fact — is  wholly  lacking  in  the  first 
hours  of  life.  The  human  child  just  born  can  not, 
properly  speaking,  experience  fright  any  more  than  can 
animals  just  born,  although  many  sensations,  such  as 
that  of  a  dazzlingly  bright  light,  are  surprising  and  dis- 
agreeable to  him.  But  this  stage  of  inferior  sensibility 
scarcely  outlasts  the  first  days  in  vigorous  children ;  in 
some  (born  after  their  time)  it  may  in  the  case  of  sud- 
den impressions  (p.  80),  have  given  place,  even  before 
the  second  day,  to  the  susceptibility  to  fright  that  is 
more  or  less  characteristic  of  the  infant. 

This  has  already  been  spoken  of  repeatedly,  so  far 
as  the  bilaterally  symmetrical  reflexes,  occasioned  by  all 
sorts  of  acoustic,  optical,  tactile  impressions  (e.  g.,  by 
taking  hold  of  the  child,  or  blowing  upon  him),  espe- 
cially the  extending  and  raising  of  the  arms,  the  start- 
ing and  the  quick  pulsation  of  the  eyelid,  are  symptoms 
of  oeing  frightened  (p.  82).  Apart  from  the  starting, 
which  is  not  always  regular,  these  reflexes  are  dis- 
tinguished above  others  by  their  perfect  symmetry. 
Both  arms  are  raised  exactly  simultaneously,  both  eyes 


226  THE   MIND   OF   THE   CHILD. 

close  for  a  moment  after  a  sudden  impression,  even 
when  this  is  made  only  on  one  side  (as  in  pulling  at  the 
blanket  on  which  the  child  is  lying).  This  reflex  mech- 
anism, that  unites  the  motors  of  the  extremities  with 
the  organs  of  sense,  must  have  an  easy  action  from  the 
beginning,  although  no  direct  advantage  from  it  to  the 
child  can  be  affirmed. 

Another  constant  symptom  of  fright  in  children  is 
their  silence.  For  example,  when  a  child  has  had  a  fall, 
screaming  does  not  begin  till  after  an  interval  It  is 
probable  that  this  condition  of  not  being  able  to  scream, 
like  that  of  apthongia  or  reflex  aphasia,  rests  upon  teta- 
nic excitement  of  the  motor  nerves,  especially  of  the 
nerves  of  the  tongue,  in  consequence  of  which  every  at- 
tempt to  form  a  sound  may  result  in  spasm  of  the  tongue. 
In  children  this  occurrence  is  by  no  means  so  rare  as  in 
adults.  Children,  both  before  and  after  they  have  be- 
gun to  learn  to  speak,  do  not  begin  to  scream  until  some 
time  after  the  effect  of  the  sudden  impression ;  for  this 
reason,  probably,  because  by  that  impression  the  will  is 
completely  paralyzed,  so  that  at  first  they  do  not  even 
get  so  far  as  to  the  attempt  to  form  a  sound.  All  the 
muscles  that  at  other  times  are  voluntarily  movable  are 
no  longer  moved  becauses  the  impulses  of  will  are  want- 
ing ;  so  it  is  also  with  the  tongue  zi\&  the  muscles  of 
the  larynx.  Even  the  reflex  excita'  >ility  is  diminished. 
Hence,  probably,  the  silence  of  those  frightened  in  the 
first  moment.  The  very  strong  excitement  of  particu- 
lar centers  brings  with  it  an  arrest  of  the  other  central 
functions.  Finally,  the  motor  impulse  becomes  oper- 
ative, but  produces  that  spasm  of  the  tongue,  and  not 
till  after  that  passes,  screaming. 


REFLEX   MOVEMENTS.  227 

It  takes  a  long  series  of  experiences,  which  each  in- 
dividual must  go  through  for  himself  anew,  before  such 
fright-reflexes  and  infringements  upon  the  activity  of 
the  will  can  be  controlled,  and  many  persons  never  learn 
to  control  them.  Still,  it  is  of  the  greatest  importance 
for  the  cultivation  of  the  child's  will  to  exercise  chil- 
dren as  early  as  possible  in  the  conscious  inhibition  of 
reflex  movements. 

At  the  beginning,  probably,  no  reflex  is  inhibited, 
but  there  exists  a  peculiarity  discovered  by  Soltmann, 
which  counteracts  the  disadvantages  arising  from  this 
defect.  The  excitability  of  the  nerve-muscle,  namely, 
in  cats,  dogs,  rabbits,  gradually  increases  from  birth  on 
(in  man  probably  until  toward  the  sixth  week  of  life, 
as  it  then  about  equals  that  of  adults,  or  somewhat  sur- 
passes it).  The  inferior  excitability  of  the  motor  nerves 
in  the  earliest  period  exerts  a  beneficial  counter-influ- 
ence to  the  tendency  to  convulsions  after  physiological 
stimulation.  Here  I  must  agree  with  Soltmann,  and 
attribute  to  this  factor,  as  he  does,  great  importance, 
especially  on  account  of  the  absence  of  will  and  of  the 
inhibition  of  reflexes ;  but  my  experiments  and  obser- 
vations upon  new-born  Guinea-pigs,  and  on  those  born 
prematurely,  leave  not  the  least  doubt  that  in  these  ani- 
mals inhibitions  of  reflexes  take  place  through  strong 
peripheral  stimuli  even  before  birth,  or  with  the  first 
drawing  of  breath.  For  when,  in  such  a  foetus  or  new- 
born creature,  I  pinch  sharply  with  the  forceps  any  spot 
whatever  on  the  skin  after  breathing  has  begun,  the 
auricle  does  not  react  in  the  least,  or  reacts  only  very 
feebly  upon  the  strongest  impressions  of  sound  ;  but  if 
the  peripheral  stimulus  ceases,  then  both  auricles  plainly 


228  THE   MIND   OF   THE   CHILD. 

move  at  once  upon  the  same  acoustic  stimulus.  Here 
exists,  then,  soon  after  the  beginning  of  respiration  (in 
the  prematurely  and  the  normally  born)  an  inhibition 
of  a  reflex  through  strong  localized  cutaneous  stimuli. 
A  paralysis  of  the  reflex,  or  paraplegia,  after  contusion — 
e.  g.,  of  a  kidney — it  has  not  been  possible,  thus  far,  to 
produce  in  new-born  creatures  (dogs  and  rabbits).  The 
inhibitory  effect  of  the  excitement  of  the  vagus  upon 
the  activity  of  the  heart  is,  on  the  other  hand,  present 
in  the  new-born  mammal. 

It  is  highly  desirable  now  to  fix,  by  observation  and 
simple  experiments,  the  date  of  beginning  of  inhibi- 
tions of  reflexes  in  the  human  being.  I  saw  a  sixteen- 
days-old  child,  that  was  screaming  violently,  become 
quiet  in  an  instant  when  it  was  laid  face  downward 
on  a  pillow ;  and  I  have  observed,  even  in  very  young 
babes,  the  quieting  effect  of  singing,  making  a  hushing 
sound,  and  playing  on  the  piano.  But  in  these  cases 
we  have  not  to  do  with  inhibitions  of  reflexes  in  the 
strict  sense  of  the  term,  but  with  the  supplanting  of  a 
feeling  of  discomfort,  along  with  its  motor  consequences, 
or  a  reflex  activity,  by  means  of  a  new  impression.  A 
brainless  new-born  child,  even,  that  was  screaming  vio- 
lently, could  be  easily  quieted,  as  Pfliiger  relates,  by 
letting  him  suck  the  finger.  The  cerebral  activity  of 
the  newly-born  can  not  yet  influence  the  reflexive 
and  impulsive  activity  of  the  spinal  cord,  because  the 
brain  is  not  yet  sufficiently  developed.  Soltmann  has 
proved,  by  experiments  on  new-born  dogs,  that  at  the 
beginning  of  life  no  excitements  pass  from  the  brain 
to  the  spinal  cord,  which  would  be  capable  of  arresting 
the  reflex  operations  effected  by  the  cord.     And  I  have 


REFLEX   MOVEMENTS.  229 

no  doubt  that  the  very  same  thing  is  true  of  many  other 
new-born  animals.  But  it  is  not  true  of  all,  and 
whether  it  is  precisely  in  the  human  being  that  imme- 
diately after  birth  no  trace  of  the  inhibition  of  reflexes 
exists,  is  doubtful.  The  Guinea-pig,  which  is  much 
more  mature  at  birth,  comes  into  the  world,  according 
to  the  previously-mentioned  observations,  with  a  com- 
plete apparatus  for  inhibition  of  reflexes. 

Genuine  inhibitions  of  reflexes  may  lirst  be  observed 
with  certainty  in  little  children  at  the  time  when  they 
no  longer  (as  they  do  in  the  first  six  to  nine  months), 
without  the  least  sign  of  self-control,  excrete  at  once 
the  products  of  nutrition  when  the  accumulation  of 
these  stimulates  them  reflexively  to  do  so.  In  all 
healthy  infants  this  reflex  excitability  is  great.  But  I 
lack  observations  as  to  when  for  the  first  time  the 
reflex  stimulus,  that  shows  itself  normally  on  the  first 
day  of  life,  is  overcome,  or  the  immediate  response  to  it 
is  at  least  delayed.  At  the  beginning  of  the  first  year 
children  are  accustomed  to  scream  after  the  evacuation  ; 
later,  to  scream  before  it,  formally  announcing  it.  In  the 
latter  case  they  have  had  the  experience  that  the  threats, 
the  chastisements,  and  the  natural  disagreeable  conse- 
quences of  the  immediate  reflex  activity  cause  more 
discomfort  than  waiting  does.  We  have  here  one  of 
the  strongest  eifects  of  early  training,  as  is  proved  by 
the  behavior  of  animals  and  many  insane  persons. 

The  point  of  time  at  which  control  of  the  sphincter 
vesica?,  begins,  allowed  itself  in  one  case  to  be  approxi- 
mately determined.  From  the  beginning  of  the  tenth 
month,  viz.,  the  desire  to  evacuate  the  bowels  was,  in  the 
daytime,  in  a  healthful  and  waking  condition,  almost 
17 


230  THE   MIND   OF   THE   CHILD. 

invariably  announced  by  great  restlessness.  If  the 
child  was  then  attended  to,  the  evacuation  took  place 
invariably  not  till  several  seconds  after  giving  him  the 
proper  position.  The  child  needed  so  much  time, 
therefore,  in  order  to  annul  the  inhibition  by  means  of 
his  now  unquestionably  authenticated  will. 

Here  we  have  two  proofs  of  the  existence  of  choice : 
first,  the  inhibition  of  a  reflex  never  inhibited  in  the 
first  half-year,  the  non-willing  of  it;  second,  the  re- 
moval of  the  inhibition,  the  willing  of  the  reflex.  The 
first  inhibitory  act,  which,  for  that  matter,  does  not 
last  long  when  it  is  not  regarded,  seems  to  occur  sel- 
dom before  the  last  three  months  of  the  first  year 
(sometimes  much  later).  It  is  lacking,  as  a  rule,  when 
the  child  does  not  enjoy  undisturbed  health,  when  his 
attention  is  strongly  claimed,  and  when  he  is  tired. 
The  overcoming  of  the  reflex  stimulus  in  sleep,  which 
takes  place  independently  of  will  by  means  of  habit, 
requires  for  that  very  reason  a  much  longer  period  of 
time.  It  is  to  be  borne  in  mind,  however,  in  this  case, 
that  a  pretty  strong  pressure,  like  other  peripheral 
stimuli,  first  interrupts  the  sleep,  and  thereby  makes 
room  for  the  influence  of  the  will. 

Those  reflexes  which  during  the  whole  of  life  are 
not  inhibited  by  the  will,  appear,  notwithstanding,  to 
be  in  part  more  distinct  in  the  new-born  and  the  infant 
than  in  the  following  years  of  life.  At  least  Eulenburg 
found  (1878)  in  two  hundred  and  forty-one  children 
under  twelve  months  the  reflex  of  the  tendon  of  the 
patella  at  the  beginning  not  quite  so  frequent,  indeed, 
as  in  adults;  where  it  did  appear,  however,  it  was 
more  distinct  than  it  was  later,  especially  in  forty-one 


REFLEX   MOVEMENTS.  231 

children  examined  in  tlie  first  month,  and  in  sixteen  (out 
of  seventeen)  one  day  old.  Later  observations  of  the 
same  investigator  and  his  assistant  Dr.  Haase  (1882)  con- 
tinued the  relatively  more  frequent  absence  of  the  knee- 
phenomenon  in  one  hundred  and  sixteen  children  from 
one  to  twenty-four  months  old.  In  seven  cases  it  was 
wanting  on  both  sides,  in  three  cases  on  one  side.  The 
foot  -  phenomenon  was  wanting,  in  fact,  in  the  great 
majority  of  the  cases.  It  was  distinctly  seen  only  in 
twenty-two  out  of  the  one  hundred  and  sixteen  children. 
The  osseous  reflexes  were  still  more  rare  (tibia  reflex 
observed  in  fifteen,  radius  reflex  in  fourteen  of  the  one 
hundred  and  sixteen).  On  the  other  hand  the  reflex  of 
the  abdomen,  of  the  nose,  of  the  cornea,  and  of  the 
pupil  were  not  missing  in  a  single  case.  The  ear-reflex 
was  only  in  five  cases  indistinct.  (In  seventy-eight  boys, 
from  one  to  sixty  months  old  the  cremaster  reflex  was 
lacking  in  twenty  cases.)  It  appears  from  this  that  the 
tendon-reflexes  are  not  so  easily  inherited  as  those  of 
the  skin  and  mucous  membrane.  The  latter  are  more 
useful  to  the  organism. 

The  decrease  of  the  general  reflex  tendency  ("i?<?- 
flexdisjwsition")  in  the  earliest  years  is  identical  in 
ultimate  effect  with  the  increase  of  an  inhibition  of  re- 
flexes. To  be  sure,  the  individual  efficient  factors  in 
both  cases  can  not  yet  be  isolated.  The  tendency  to 
spasms  that  has  its  origin  partly  in  the  lack  of  all  reflex 
inhibition  in  the  earliest  period,  and  the  heightened 
reflex  sensibility  easily  to  be  established  physiologically 
in  every  teething  child,  which  gives  occasion  for  the 
strangest  grimaces,  find  their  counterpoise  only  after 
the  development  of  the  will — i.  e.,  after  far  advanced 


232  THE  MIND  OF  THE  CHILD. 

development  of  the  gray  substance  of  the  cerebrum, 
upon  the  removal  of  which  there  appear  in  animals  re- 
flex phenomena  similar  to  those  in  new-born  and  quite 
young  individuals.  But  in  older  children,  too  (in  the 
fourth  year)  many  reflexes  are  found,  especially  the 
mimetic  and  the  defensive  (such  as  that  mentioned, 
p.  101 — "shuddering"),  more  strongly  expressed  than 
after  their  training  has  been  carried  further. 

The  pain-reflexes  that  are  most  strongly  manifested 
in  later  life  are,  according  to  the  experiments  of  Genz-- 
mer,  already  in  part  mentioned,  least  developed  pre- 
cisely in  the  earliest  period.  Through  observation  of 
some  sixty  new-born  children,  it  was  established  by  him 
that  they  are,  on  the  first  day,  almost  insensible  to  the 
prick  of  a  needle,  and  in  the  first  week  they  still  have 
an  inferior  degree  of  sensibility.  Prematurely-born 
infants  were  in  the  course  of  the  first  days  so  sharply 
pricked  with  fine  needles  in  the  nose,  upper  lip,  and 
hand,  that  a  little  drop  of  bl>od  flowed  from  the  punct- 
ure, and  yet  they  gave  no  sign  of  discomfort ;  indeed, 
often  not  even  a  slight  quivering  could  be  noticed.  To 
pricks  that  are  acute  for  the  adult,  normal  children  re- 
sponded after  one  to  two  days,  seldom  earlier,  merely 
with  reflex  movements  as  upon  being  touched.  "  The 
pain-reflexes  differ  from  those  reflexes  of  touch  in  this, 
that  the  movement  is  wont  to  follow  the  stimulus  only 
after  a  longer  pause  (up  to  two  seconds),  while  in  the 
touch-reflexes  the  physiological  period  is  considerably 
shorter."  The  sensibility  to  needle-pricks  was  found  to 
be  somewhat  greater  in  children  born  after  their  time, 
and  it  increases  generally  in  the  first  weeks.  It  is  of 
great  interest,  in  connection  with  this,  that  in  children 


REFLEX   MOVEMENTS.  233 

of  some  weeks  there  followed  occasionally  upon  a  prick 
in  the  sole  of  the  foot  a  distortion  of  the  countenance 
without  local  reflexes.  "  They  seemed  to  become  con- 
scious of  the  feeling  of  pain.  In  the  tirst  week  this 
was  never  the  case."  A  reflexive  lachrymal  secretion 
could  not  be  produced  at  that  period  by  any  prick,  but 
only  by  irritation  of  the  mucous  membrane  of  the 
nose ;  "  at  pricks  on  the  skin  of  the  face,  the  moisture 
of  the  eyes  did  seem,  but  only  at  times,  to  increase." 

Now  from  all  these  facts  it  does  not  follow  that  the 
newly-born  are  sensible  of  no  pain  at  all,  but  it  follows 
that  the  pain-reflexes  are  still  wanting  when  the  painful 
impression  is  circumscribed — reaches  but  few  nerves — 
as  in  the  prick  of  a  fine  needle.  Fifty  simultaneous 
needle-pricks  would  doubtless  bring  pain-reflexes  in 
their  train  immediately  after  birth.  So  much  is  made 
certain  by  my  experiments  on  prematurely-born  rabbits 
and  Guinea-pigs,  which  responded,  with  unmistakable 
pain-reflexes,  only  to  very  strong  local,  and  to  weaker 
extended,  painful  assaults — to  electric,  thermal,  mechani- 
cal, chemical  cutaneous  stimuli.  Distortion  of  the  face 
and  loud  screaming  appear  also  in  mature  or  nearly 
mature  new-born  human  beings  upon  strong  electrical 
stimulation  of  the  skin,  as  Kroner  found  (1882). 

It  would  be  of  great  interest  to  draw  up  a  list,  as 
complete  as  possible,  of  the  reflex  movements  of  the  new- 
ly-born, the  infant,  and  the  child  not  yet  able  to  speak ; 
to  separate  the  inborn  movements  from  the  acquired, 
those  capable  of  being  inhibited  from  the  purely  physi- 
cal reflexes  and  the  pain-reflexes ;  and  to  test  whether 
there  is  a  single  reflex  that  belongs  to  the  human  child 
alone.      A  thorough  -  going   comparison    of   new-born 


234  THE   MIND   OF   THE   CHILD. 

chimpanzees  and  orangs  with  new-born  negro  children 
in  regard  to  the  reflexes  would  perhaps  disclose  no  dif- 
ferences. 

In  the  human  infant  there  have  been  proved — to  ad- 
duce only  one  sensory  and  one  motor  nerve  as  example 
— six  different  regular  reflex  movements  from  the  optic 
nerve  to  the  motor  oculi  alone,  which  appear  in  case  of 
light-impressions,  viz. : 

1.  Contraction  of  the  superior  rectus  muscle  of  the 
eye  in  raising  the  glance,  when  bright  light  appears 
above ;  in  the  fourth  week  or  earlier  (p.  44). 

2.  Contraction  of  the  elevator  of  the  lid  in  moderate 
light ;  immediately  after  birth  (p.  4). 

3.  Contraction  of  the  internal  rectus  muscle  of  the 
eye  (movement  of  convergence)  at  a  moderately  bright 
impression  of  light  just  before  the  tip  of  the  nose ;  in 
the  second  week  (p.  50). 

4.  Contraction  of  the  inferior  rectus  muscle  of  the 
eye  in  lowering  the  gaze  when  bright  light  appears 
below ;  in  the  fourth  week  (p.  44). 

5.  Contraction  of  the  muscle  of  accommodation  at 
the  approach  of  bright  light  to  the  eye ;  after  the  third 
week  (p.  51). 

6.  Contraction  of  the  sphincter  of  the  iris  under  the 
influence  of  bright  light ;  immediately  after  birth  (pp.  4 
and  51). 

Anatomy  has  not  yet  discovered  the  paths  of  con- 
nection for  any  one  of  these  six  reflexes  from  the  retina 
to  the  muscles  of  the  orbit  that  are  supplied  by  the 
motor  oculi.  And  the  same  thing  is  true  also  of  the 
mimetic  reflex  movements  of  the  infant  from  the  nerve 
of  hearing,  smell,  and  taste  to  the  facial  nerve,  and  from 


INSTINCTIVE    MOVEMENTS.  2-35 

the  sensitive  nerve  of  the  face  to  the  facial  nerve. 
Microscopic  investigation  has,  in  fact,  thus  far  been 
unable  to  demonstrate  in  a  single  embryonic  reflex  the 
two  centers — the  sensory  and  motor  ganglionic  cells — 
in  full  development.  Complete  ganglionic  cells  have 
not  been  seen  in  the  brain  till  after  birth  (p.  70). 
Probably  the  paths  of  the  embryonic  reflexes  are  still, 
in  general,  imperfectly  isolated. 


CHAPTER   XI. 

INSTINCTIVE   MOVEMENTS. 

The  instinctive  movements  of  human  beings  are  not 
numerous,  and  are  difficult  to  recognize  (with  the  ex- 
ception of  the  sexual  ones)  wThen  once  the  earliest  youth 
is  past.  So  much  the  more  attentively  must  the  in- 
stinctive movements  of  the  newly-born  and  of  the  infant 
and  of  the  little  child  be  observed.  In  order  to  under- 
stand them,  accurate  observation  of  the  instinctive 
movements  of  new-born  animals  is  necessary.  I  will 
first  group  and  present  some  statements  upon  that  point. 

1.    Instinctive  Movements  of  New-born  Animals. 

Movements  unquestionably  instinctive  are  manifested 
by  chickens  in  the  very  first  hours  after  leaving  the  egg 
— in  fact,  even  while  they  are  still  engaged  in  breaking 
the  shell.  For  what  else  was  it  but  such  a  movement 
when  a  chick  that  had  worn  an  opaque  hood  from  the 
moment  of  breaking  the  shell  until  the  lapse  of  some 
days,  moved  its  head,  six  minutes  after  it  was  unhooded. 


236  THE   MIND   OF   TI1E   CHILD. 

in  the  right  way  to  follow  with  its  gaze  a  fly  twelve 
inches  distant  ?  After  ten  minutes  the  insect  came 
within  reaching  distance  of  the  neck,  and  was  seized  and 
swallowed  at  the  first  effort.  At  the  end  of  twenty  min- 
utes this  chick  was  placed,  on  uneven  ground,  at  some 
distance  from  a  hen  with  which  was  a  chick  of  the  same 
age  as  the  one  under  observation,  in  such  a  way  that  it 
could  see  and  hear  the  hen.  After  chirping  for  about 
a  minute,  it  ran  straight  to  the  hen  (Spalding).  The 
very  young  chick  does  not  invariably  succeed  in  seizing 
the  insect  or  the  kernel,  at  which  it  pecks,  between  its 
upper  and  its  under  mandibles,  in  such  a  way  that  the 
object  can  be  swallowed,  but  almost  all  peck  at  it. 
Chickens  one  day  old,  and  those  of  several  days,  accord- 
ing to  my  observations,  often  peck  six,  even  nine  and 
ten,  times  inaccurately,  and  very  often  toil  in  vain,  with 
all  sorts  of  movements  of  the  head  (p.  67),  even  after 
a  successful  seizure  of  the  kernel,  to  swallow  it. 

Here,  then,  are  in  complete  development — 1.  Head- 
movements  at  the  sight  of  objects  in  motion.  2.  Peck- 
ing, when  these  objects  are  capable  of  being  reached. 
3.  Running  or  scudding  {Rutschen),  when  the  cluck  of 
the  hen  is  heard  for  the  first  time  or  she  is  for  the  first 
time  seen.  4.  Bill-  and  head-movements,  when  a  small 
object  is  got  ready  for  swallowing.  All  these  movements 
may,  indeed,  fail  to  be  made,  even  when  the  external 
conditions  of  their  appearance  are  completely  fulfilled, 
as  I  have  several  times  seen  in  chicks  from  one  to  three 
days  old  hatched  in  the  incubator ;  but  they  are  not  to 
be  looked  upon  as  acquired  or  voluntary,  for  they  are 
still  new  to  the  chick  itself,  and  are  executed  without 
a  previous  idea  of  the  result.    Otherwise,  the  little  creat- 


INSTINCTIVE    MOVEMENTS.  237 

ures  would  not,  as  I  have  seen  them  do,  peck  at  their 
own  nails.  The  very  young  chick,  which  has  never  yet 
seen  the  movements  mentioned,  can  have  no  self-acquired 
idea  of  them  beforehand,  because  no  experience  pre- 
ceded them  ;  but  its  ancestors  had  the  idea,  and  the 
chick  itself  inherited,  without  knowing  it,  a  memory- 
image  (Erinnerungsbild)  of  that.  The  chick  thus  acts 
skillfully,  and  with  seeming  intelligence,  not  out  of  its 
own  deliberation,  but  through  the  inherited  association 
of  the  sensuous  recollection  with  the  motor  recollection, 
not  through  the  idea  of  the  movement  itself  executed 
by  the  creature,  this  movement  being  rather  involun- 
tary. If  the  movement  be  omitted — under  external 
conditions  otherwise  similar — then,  in  the  concurrence 
of  the  inherited  sensory-motor  associations  with  one 
another  and  with  the  new  connections  of  sensation  and 
movement  arising  from  individual  sense-impressions, 
another  association  has  appeared  in  greater  force  than 
those  spoken  of,  or  a  new  feeling  prevails.  Likewise 
the  diligent  pluming  of  the  down  with  the  bill  by  the 
chicken  not  yet  one  day  old,  and  the  scraping  of  the 
head  with  the  foot,  that  I  saw  on  the  third  day  (the 
creature  never  having  seen  the  thing  done),  and  the 
scratching,  appearing  on  the  second  day  (without  a  model 
for  imitation),  can  be  nothing  else  than  hereditary,  in- 
stinctive movements.  Spalding  says  forcibly  :  "  The 
instinct  of  present  generations  is  the  product  of  accumu- 
lated experiences  of  past  generations.  The  permanence 
of  such  associations  in  the  individual  life  depends  upon 
the  corresponding  impression  on  the  nervous  system. 
"We  can  not,  strictly  speaking,  experience  any  individual 
fact  of  consciousness  twice;  but,  as  by  pulling  at  the 


238  THE   MIND   OF   THE   CHILD. 

bell  we  can  produce  the  same  ring  that  we  heard  yes- 
terday, so  we  are  capable,  as  far  as  the  established  con- 
nection of  nerves  and  nerve-centers  holds,  of  living  over 
again  our  experiences.  Why  should  not  these  modifi- 
cations of  the  substance  of  the  brain  (which,  persisting 
from  hour  to  hour,  from  day  to  day,  make  permanent 
acquirement  possible)  pass  on  from  parents  to  their  off- 
spring just  like  any  other  physical  peculiarity  ?  Instinct 
is  inherited  memory." 

It  is  no  objection  to  this  conception  of  instinct  as  an 
hereditary  association  that  not  all  the  sensory-motor  con- 
nections of  the  parents  pass  over  to  their  posterity.  For 
very  many  of  them  are  not  firm  enough  The  firmest 
in  the  chicken  are  the  movements  of  pecking,  swallow- 
ing, peeping,  running,  scratching,  and  scraping,  and  the 
beating  with  the  future  wings  in  scudding  forward, 
which  last  I  saw  very  lively  in  the  fourth  hour,  without 
possibility  of  its  being  an  imitation.  Yet  some  of  these 
movements,  long  hereditary,  may  also  vanish,  or  at  least 
may  not  appear,  if  the  external  occasions  are  wanting. 
Chickens  that  wTere  hatched  by  Allen  Thomson  upon  a 
carpet,  and  were  kept  on  it  for  some  days,  showed  no 
inclination  to  scratch,  because  the  stimulus  that  was  ex- 
ercised upon  the  soles  of  their  feet  by  the  carpet  was 
new,  and  was  not  adapted  to  set  in  activity  their  in- 
herited mechanism  for  scratching.  As  soon,  however,  as 
a  little  gravel  was  spread  upon  the  carjDet,  the  scraping 
began  at  once  (as  Romanes  reports).  We  see  clearly 
from  this  that  chickens  do  not  from  the  beginning;  of 
their  life  scratch  with  the  purpose  of  seeking  grains  of 
seed.  For  the  quite  thinly  spread  gravel  could  not 
furnish  the  prospect  of  finding  such  in  the  carpet.     I 


INSTINCTIVE    MOVEMENTS.  239 

have  even  seen  chickens  that  were  hatched  in  the  in- 
cubator, and  then  brought  up  in  an  inclosed  space  by 
themselves  away  from  all  other  fowls,  make  vigorous 
scratching  movements  on  smooth  white  paper  without 
spots,  especially  in  the  fourth  week  of  life,  as  if  the 
brightness  of  the  great  surface  might  be  scraped  away. 
The  scratching  of  fowls  thus  takes  place  without  delib- 
eration, after  certain  visual  and  tactile  impressions,  as  a 
purely  instinctive  movement,  like  j>eeping,  pecking,  run- 
ning, and  flying. 

Swallows  do  not  learn  to  fly  ;  they  receive  no  in- 
struction as  to  how  they  have  to  contract  their  muscles 
in  order  to  speed  through  the  air  for  the  first  time  from 
the  maternal  nest,  but  they  fly  of  themselves.  The 
young  redstarts,  also,  which  I  have  observed  daily  be- 
fore they  were  fledged,  receive  no  directions  for  flying. 
But  they  exercise  their  wings  in  the  nest  before  their 
first  attempt  at  flight,  often  spreading  them  and  making 
them  whir.  The  first  excursion  is  slower  than  the  flight 
of  the  parents ;  the  young  creature  flies  downward,  but 
it  never  hits  against  anything,  and  after  a  few  days  the 
certainty  of  its  flight  is  worthy  of  admiration.  Confi- 
dence grows  with  practice. 

These  flight-movements  of  quite  young  birds  can 
not  be  voluntary  movements ;  they  are  instinctive,  pre- 
cisely as  is  the  pecking  of  the  chicken  that  has  been 
hatched  a  few  hours,  which,  having  come  into  the  world 
alone  in  the  incubator,  without  mother  or  companions, 
in  the  utmost  quiet  (without  guiding  noises),  pecks  at 
every  single  visible  object  capable  of  being  pecked  at, 
or  at  a  spot  or  hole  in  the  wooden  floor  or.  which  the 
creature  stands,  as  well  as  at  its  own  nails,  with  aston- 


240  THE   MIND   OF   THE   CHILD. 

isliing  address.  Pecking  is  not,  therefore,  according  to 
these  observations  of  mine,  set  agoing  by  hearing,  as 
has  been  suspected,  when  the  noise  made  by  the  pecking 
of  the  mother  was  imitated  with  the  tinger-nail  (Dar- 
win). I  have,  in  fact,  observed  that  chickens  between 
three  and  twenty  hours  old,  hatched  in  the  incubator, 
almost  all  of  which  had  pecked  at  the  yolk  and  white 
of  egg  put  before  them  cut  into  small  bits  (after  being 
hard  boiled),  and  were  now  pausing — I  have  noticed 
that,  when  I  let  two  large  fowls  close  by  them  pick  up 
the  same  food  upon  hard  wood,  noisily  and  persistently, 
the  young  ones  were  not  in  the  least  affected  by  the 
hammering  of  the  bills,  although  they  had  hearing,  for 
they  started,  at  sudden  loud  noises,  all  simultaneously, 
like  one  fowl — a  strange  sight. 

If  a  drop  of  water  be  put  on  the  eye  of  a  chicken 
on  the  twenty-first  day,  before  the  creature  has  left  the 
shell,  it  shakes  off  the  drop  briskly,  like  a  hen  ;  put  the 
drop  on  the  tip  of  the  bill,  and  the  chick  makes  many 
movements  of  swallowing,  as  I  often  observed. 

All  these  movements  are,  like  pecking,  inherited. 
They  appear,  in  fact,  not  exceptionally,  but  very  fre- 
quently, when  nearly  the  same  conditions,  internal  and 
external,  are  fulfilled  that  were  fulfilled  when  their  an- 
cestors executed  them — executed  them  times  innumera- 
ble. How  easily  in  this  case  instinctive  activity  takes 
on  the  stamp  of  great  individual  intelligence  is  shown 
especially  in  the  following  observation  made  by  A. 
Agassiz  (1876) :  Very  young  hermit-crabs,  not  long 
after  leaving  the  egg,  rush  with  extraordinary  anima- 
tion for  suitable  shells  that  are  given  to  them  in  the 
water.     They  examine  the  opening  at  the  mouth,  and 


INSTINCTIVE   MOVEMENTS.  241 

take  up  their  quarters  inside  with  remarkable  alacrity. 
But,  if  it  chances  that  the  shells  are  still  occupied  by 
mollusks,  then  they  stay  close  by  the  opening,  and  wait 
till  the  snail  dies,  which  generally  occurs  soon  after  the 
beginning  of  the  imprisonment  and  the  strict  watch. 
Upon  this  the  small  crab  pulls  out  the  carcass,  devours 
it,  and  moves  into  the  lodging  himself.  What  fore- 
sight !  On  account  of  the  preference  of  the  empty 
shells,  the  whole  proceeding  can  not  be  hereditary.  But 
the  young  animals  are  not  instructed.  They  were  from 
the  beginning  separated  from  their  parents,  and  had  no 
time  or  opportunity  for  experiences  of  their  own.  They 
must,  therefore,  have  inherited  their  practice  of  waiting 
from  their  ancestors,  as  a  rule  of  conduct  for  the  case 
where  a  shell  is  occupied,  and  they  can  at  once  distin- 
guish such  a  one  from  an  empty  one. 

Now,  precisely  as  it  is  true  of  these  animals  that  are 
sagacious  in  one  direction,  and  of  the  chicken,  and,  in 
general,  of  all  animals,  that  they  come  into  the  world 
with  a  good  share  of  inherited  memory  for  movements 
(p.  71) — i.  e.,  with  instinctive  motility  (Motilitat) — so  it 
will  be  true  of  the  human  child.  Which  of  its  move- 
ments are  instinctive  ?     First,  seizing. 

2.    Development  of  Seizing. 

Of  all  movements  of  the  infant  in  the  first  half-year, 
no  one  is  of  greater  significance  for  its  mental  develop- 
ment than  are  the  seizing  movements.  I  have  on  this 
account  observed  these  with  special  attention. 

It  is  supposed  by  many  that  the  moving  of  the 
hands  hither  and  thither  in  the  first  days  of  life  is  a 
kind  of  seizing,  since  the  lingers  are  carried  not  only 


24:2  THE   MIXD   OF   THE   CHILD. 

to  the  face,  but  also  to  the  mouth.  Such  a  view  is  ir- 
reconcilable with  the  ordinary  meaning  of  the  word 
seize  and  with  the  facts.  For  seizing  presupposes  the 
perception  of  an  object  desired,  and,  in  addition,  a  con- 
trol of  the  muscles,  both  of  which  are  wanting  in  the 
first  days. 

The  first  putting  of  the  hand  into  the  mouth  has 
nothing  in  common  with  the  later  seizing,  except  that 
it  requires  a  movement  of  the  arm.  The  hand  is  not 
even  carried  to  the  face,  but,  in  its  random  movements 
about,  it  gets  to  and  into  the  mouth,  as  well  as  elsewhere, 
which,  on  account  of  the  position  of  the  arms  in  the 
foetus  long  before  birth,  seems  perfectly  natural.  New- 
born children,  left  to  themselves,  keep  this  attitude,  and 
move  their  hands  to  the  face  and  to  the  lips,  as  they 
must  have  done  already  before  birth.  If  the  lips  are 
touched,  then  sucking  movements  readily  appear  in  the 
hungry  infant ;  therefore  nothing  of  purpose  can  be 
found  in  the  early  sucking  of  the  child  at  its  own  fin- 
gers (observed  by  Kussmaul  on  the  first,  by  me  on  the 
fifth,  day),  which  is  followed  later  by  the  biting  of  the 
fingers.  The  position  of  the  arms  and  hands  in  the 
uterus  is  conditioned  by  the  restricted  space.  Every 
other  position  would  involve  an  enlargement  of  the 
superficies  of  the  fcetus. 

It  appears,  therefore,  that  we  are  not  justified  in 
seeing  in  the  first  approximation  of  the  hand  to  the 
mouth,  the  beginning  of  seizing-movements.  In  die 
first  days  of  his  life  the  infant  moves  Iris  hands  about 
his  face  and  into  his  eyes,  in  a  very  different  way  from 
that  of  seizing,  which  comes  later  as  a  gesture  expressing 
a  desire.     Young  infants,  whose  fingers  have  accident- 


INSTINCTIVE   MOVEMENTS.  243 

ally,  in  the  random  movements  of  the  arms,  come  to 
the  mouth,  are  not  able,  if  anybody  takes  the  fingers 
away,  to  put  them  to  the  mouth  again.  Nay,  even  if 
some  one  carries  their  lingers  to  their  lips  for  them,  the 
infants  can  not  hold  their  own  fingers  there,  in  case 
gravity  makes  the  arm  drop  (Genzmer).  Later,  however, 
babes  are  often  seen  to  suck  at  their  own  fingers  in  sleep. 

Neither  does  the  fact  that  the  infant,  as  I  noted  on 
the  ninth  day,  when  he  is  sleeping,  does  not,  as  he  does 
when  awake,  clasp  my  fingers  placed  in  his  hand — 
neither  does  this  fact  indicate  a  seizing  as  a  purposive 
movement ;  but  the  clasping  is  to  be  regarded  as  a  re- 
flex, just  like  the  spreading  of  the  toes  when  the  sole  of 
the  foot  is  touched  (pp.  104,  224).  The  proof  of  this  I 
see  herein,  that  the  older  child — e.  g.,  of  seventeen 
months — when  I  put  my  finger  in  the  hollow  of  his 
hand  during  his  sleep,  does  not  clasp  it  either,  but  when 
I  move  my  finger  with  a  gentle  rubbing  movement 
back  and  forth  upon  the  flat  of  his  hand,  he  often 
clasps  it  quickly,  almost  convulsively,  with  his  fingers, 
without  wTaking.  The  foot  behaves  like  the  hand  in 
this  respect,  in  the  earliest  period,  as  it  responds  less 
readily  in  sleep.  The  absence  of  the  clasping  in  sleep 
is  thus  to  be  ascribed  simply  to  the  insufficient  excite- 
ment of  the  nerves  of  the  skin,  and  the  diminution  of 
the  reflex  excitability  in  sleep ;  in  no  case  is  the  clasp- 
ing of  the  finger,  by  a  child  that  is  awake,  intentional 
within  the  first  two  weeks. 

The  first  grasping  at  objects,  with  manifest  desire  to 
have  them,  was  seen  by  Sigismund  in  a  boy  nineteen 
weeks  old  ;  by  me,  in  a  girl  in  her  eighteenth  week, 
and  in  my  boy  in  his  seventeenth  week. 


244  THE  MIND  OF  THE  CHILD. 

The  contraposition  of  the  thumb,  an  indispensable 
condition  to  the  completion  of  the  act  of  seizing — which 
is  said  to  be  an  easy  matter  for  young  monkeys,  even 
within  the  first  week  of  life — is  very  slowly  learned  by 
the  human  child,  as  I  noticed  ;  he  does  not  learn  at  all 
to  place  the  great-toe  opposite  the  other  toes.  It  is  a 
question,  indeed,  whether  human  beings  born  without 
arms,  can  learn  to  use  the  great-toe  as  a  thumb,  as  the 
quadrumana  do.  I  once  saw  a  youugman  without  arms 
make  a  drawing  with  his  foot.  But  in  doing  it  the 
pencil  was  held  between  the  great-toe  and  the  second, 
without  contraposition,  as  one  wTould  hold  it  between 
the  forefinger  and  the  middle  finger,  in  case  one  wanted 
to  draw  or  write  without  the  help  of  the  thumb. 
Adults  succeed  easily  in  doing  the  latter,  even  without 
practice. 

Having  the  opinion  that  possibly  at  the  beginning 
of  life  seizing  might  be  done  with  the  great-toe  as  with 
the  thumb,  I  tested  hands  and  feet  in  the  case  of  my 
boy  in  the  earliest  period,  and  I  present  here  my  ob- 
servations concerning  the  development  of  seizing,  in 
chronological  order  : 

First  to  third  day :  movements  with  the  hands  to 
the  face  predominate. 

On  the  fourth  day,  a  pencil  was  decidedly  not  held 
firmly  by  the  foot. 

On  the  fifth  day  his  fingers  clasp  my  finger  very 
firmly;  his  toes  do  not.  For  the  rest,  his  hands  often 
move  to  the  face,  at  random,  without  getting  hold  of  it. 

On  the  sixth  day,  the  same.  The  hands  even  go  into 
the  eye. 

On  the  seventh  day,  it  appears  that  a  thin  pencil  is 


INSTINCTIVE   MOVEMENTS.  215 

held  with  the  great-toe  and  the  other  toes  exactly  as 
with  the  thumb  and  fingers.  But  in  this  there  is  no 
seizing ;  of  a  contraposition  of  the  thumb  there  is  just 
as  little  to  be  observed  as  of  the  great-toe,  but  in  case 
of  convenient  position  of  the  pencil  between  thumb  and 
forefinger,  and  between  the  great-toe  and  its  neighbor, 
fingers  as  well  as  toes  are  vigorously  bent  and  the  ob- 
ject is  held. 

On  the  ninth  day  the  finger  is  not  clasped  by  the 
sleeping  child. 

In  the  third  to  seventh  weeks,  the  child  has  not  yet 
clasped  my  finger  with  his  thumb,  but  only  with  his 
fingers. 

In  the  eighth  week  I  am  convinced  that  the  thumb 
is  still  put  around  the  pencil,  as  the  fingers  are,  but  it 
may  more  easily  than  before  be  bent  passively  for  seiz- 
ing, so  that  my  finger  is  held  firmly.  The  four  fingers 
of  the  child's  hand,  directly  without  co-operation  of  the 
thumb,  embrace  my  finger  when  I  put  it  in  the  hollow 
of  the  hand  of  the  child. 

Up  to  the  eleventh  week  no  noticeable  advance.  If 
I  put  a  pencil  into  the  child's  hand,  he  holds  it  firmly, 
indeed,  but  without  heeding  it  (without  knowing  it,  one 
would  say  of  an  adult,  i.  e.,  mechanically,  as  in  absence 
of  mind),  and  can  not  perfectly  use  the  thumb  in 
clasping.  Another  child,  of  exactly  the  same  age,  could 
not  even  clasp  and  hold  the  stick  that  was  put  into  his 
hand. 

End  of  the  twelfth  week  :  when  the  child  was  mov- 
ing his  hands  about  in  the  air,  it  often  happened  that 
my  finger,  held  near,  came  into  one  of  the  little  hands. 
On  the  eighty-fourth  day  I  saw,  in  connection  with  this, 
18 


24G  THE  MIND  OF  THE  CHILD. 

for  the  first  time,  a  placing  of  the  thumb  opposite,  so 
that  it  looked  just  as  if  the  child  had  purposely  seized 
the  finger,  which  was  not  presented  to  him,  but  merely 
held  motionless  within  reach,  and  allowed  to  follow 
passively  the  movements  of  the  child's  arm  hither  and 
thither.  This  experiment  was  repeated  several  times 
on  the  same  day,  with  like  result.  Then  first  I  gained 
the  firm  conviction  that  the  contraposition  of  the 
thumb  and  the  seizing  of  the  finger,  followed  reflex- 
ively,  without  intention,  as  a  consequence  of  the  cu- 
taneous stimulus  occasioned  by  the  contact. 

In  the  thirteenth  week,  the  thumb  already  follows 
more  readily  the  bending  fingers,  when  a  pencil  is  put 
into  the  child's  hand. 

In  the  fourteenth  week,  seizing  that  is  undoubtedly 
intentional  is  not  yet  present,  but  the  little  hand  holds 
objects  that  come  accidentally  into  it,  or  that  are  put 
into  it,  longer  and  more  firmly  than  at  an  earlier  period, 
and  with  a  decided  contraposition  of  the  thumb,  by 
which  many  have  doubtless  been  misled  to  suppose  that 
"  proper  grasping  at  objects  "  begins  in  this  week — a 
thing  which  certainly  is  not  universally  true.  I,  at 
least,  detected  no  trace  of  intentional  seizing  after  ob- 
jects seen,  in  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  weeks,  and  on 
the  one  hundred  and  fourteenth  day.  While  the  babe 
is  nursing,  however,  a  finger  is  reflexively  clasped  by 
thumb  and  fingers  more  often  than  formerly.  Others, 
also,  whose  attention  I  directed  to  this  point,  confirm 
my  opinion  that  in  the  third  month  seizing  is  merely 
apparent.  It  does  not  begin,  as  Vierordt  also  found, 
before  the  fourth  month. 

In  the  seventeenth  week  (one  hundred  and  seven- 


INSTINCTIVE   MOVEMENTS.  247 

teenth  day)  I  saw  for  the  first  time  earnest  efforts  to 
take  bold  of  an  object  with  the  band.  It  was  a  small 
rubber  ball  that  was  within  seizing  distance,  but  the 
child  missed  it.  When  now  it  was  put  into  his  hand 
he  held  it  for  a  long  time  very  firmly  and  moved  it  to 
his  month  and  to  his  eyes,  and  that  with  a  peculiar,  new, 
more  intelligent  expression  of  countenance.  On  the 
following  day,  the  awkward  but  energetic  attempts  to 
seize  upon  all  sorts  of  objects  held  before  the  child  were 
more  frequent.  He  fixated  the  object — e.  g.,  my  fin- 
ger— and  grasped  three  times  in  succession  at  an  object 
distant  twice  his  arm's  length  from  him,  (p.  55) — 
and  also  fixated  his  own  hand  (cf.  p.  109),  especially 
when  this  had  once  successfully  seized.  His  expression 
of  countenance  meantime  indicated  great  attention. 
Again,  after  a  day,  the  repeated  grasping  at  every- 
thing that  comes  within  reach  of  the  arms  seems  to 
give  the  child  pleasure.  But  wonder  is  mingled  with 
it,  for — 

In  the  eighteenth  week,  in  the  attempts  to  seize, 
when  they  fail,  his  own  fingers  are  attentively  regard- 
ed. Probably  the  child  has  expected  the  sensation 
of  contact,  or  if  it  occurred  has  wondered  at  the  nov- 
elty of  the  sensation  of  touch.  He  continues  to  hold 
firmly,  regard,  and  carry  to  the  mouth  objects  once 
seized.  But  at  this  time  the  outstretching  of  the 
arms,  as  if  to  seize,  becomes  also  the  expression  of  the 
strongest  desire.  On  the  one  hundred  and  twenty-first 
day  the  child,  for  the  first  time,  stretched  out  both  arms 
toward  me  at  the  morning  greeting,  and  that  with  an 
indescribable  expression  of  longing.  On  the  day  before, 
nothing  of  this  sort  was  yet   to   be   perceived.     The 


248  THE   MIXD   OF   THE   CHILD. 

progress  from  grasping  at  inanimate  things  to  grasping 
at  members  of  the  family  came  suddenly. 

In  the  nineteenth  week  the  child  took  a  bit  of  meat 
that  was  offered  to  him  on  the  point  of  a  fork  and 
carried  it  with  his  hand  to  his  month. 

In  the  thirty-second  week  seizing  with  both  hands, 
at  the  same  time  directing  the  line  of  vision  to  the  ob- 
ject, was  more  sure  and  more  frequent  than  before,  the 
attention  at  the  same  time  being  more  active.  The 
child  lying  on  his  back,  raises  himself  without  help  to 
a  sitting  posture  and  bends  over  forward,  reaching  out 
with  both  hands  to  lay  hold  of  anything  that  is  before 
him.  The  straining  of  the  attention  expresses  itself 
especially  by  the  protruding  of  the  lips,  which  I  saw 
besides  on  the  one  hundred  and  twenty-third  day  for 
the  first  time,  in  connection  with  the  act  of  seizing. 

During  all  this  time  the  seizing  is  still  imperfect,  as 
the  four  fingers  do  not  all  work  in  harmony  with  the 
thumb.  When  the  child  sees  an  object  that  he  wants, 
he  generally  spreads  out  all  the  fingers  of  both  hands 
wThile  stretching  out  the  arms.  But  when  he  has 
clasped  the  pencil  or  my  finger,  it  often  happens  that 
in  doing  so  the  thumb  and  one  finger  only  are  em- 
ployed ;  frequently  the  thumb  with  two  fingers  or  with 
three  or  with  all.  Very  often,  too,  the  co-operation  of 
the  thumb  is  entirely  wanting.  But  the  ability  to  seize 
accurately  with  thumb  and  fingers  is  so  far  developed 
that  nothing  more  is  wanting  but  the  co-ordinating 
will  to  do  it  in  every  suitable  case.  Thus  far  it  depends 
much  more  on  the  situation  and  form  of  the  object 
and  on  the  accident  of  the  position  of  the  hand,  than 
it  does  on  the  purpose,  how  many  and  what  fingers,  as 


INSTINCTIVE   MOVEMENTS.  249 

they  bend  in  the  act  of  seizing,  actually  take  part  in 
this  act. 

In  the  thirtieth  week  the  seizing  was  noticeably 
quicker  and  more  perfect,  but  the  lack  of  certainty  in 
getting  hold  of  objects  seized  was  still  great.  The 
hands  still  often  pass  by  the  object  gazed  at,  with 
fingers  spread.  Grasping  at  objects  at  the  distance  of 
a  metre  becomes  more  frequent.  Very  often,  probably 
always,  whenever  form,  color,  or  luster  has  excited  the 
child's  gratification,  the  thing  seized  is  at  once  carried 
to  the  mouth,  the  tongue  is  put  far  out,  and  the  object 
licked.  Probably  we  have  here  a  case  of  primitive  logi- 
cal inference  ;  up  to  this  time  sucking  and  tasting  were 
the  most  important  strong,  agreeable,  sensations  the 
young  being  has  known  ;  when,  therefore,  he  has  a  new 
agreeable  sensation  (e.  g.,  of  a  bright  color,  a  round, 
smooth  body,  a  soft  surface),  it  is  brought  into  associa- 
tion with  the  lips  and  tongue,  through  which  the  pleas- 
urable feeling  at  taking  in  the  sweet  milk  was  received. 

The  quick  moving  of  the  hands  to  a  new  object 
presented  for  the  first  time — e.  g.,  a  brush — must  un- 
questionably be  interpreted  as  a  sign  of  desire.  The 
parts  of  his  own  body,  moreover,  appear  to  the  child  as 
foreign  objects.  For  in  the  thirty-second  week,  as  he 
lies  on  his  back,  he  likes  to  stretch  his  legs  up  vertically, 
and  observes  the  feet  attentively  as  he  does  other  ob- 
jects held  before  him.  Then  he  grasps  with  the  hands 
at  his  own  feet,  and  often  carries  his  toes  to  his  mouth 
with  his  hand. 

The  child  also  expresses  interest,  by  protruding  the 
lips,  his  gaze  being  firmly  directed  to  the  object  seized, 
presumably  in  the  now  discovered  fact  that  the  thing  be- 


250  THE   MIND   OF   THE   CHILD. 

fore  seen  and  desired  is  at  the  same  time  the  thing  which 
is  touched,  and  which  yields  new  sensations.  The  bright, 
colored,  long,  short,  appears  now  to  him  as  also  smooth, 
rough,  warm,  cold,  hard,  soft,  heavy,  light,  wet,  dry, 
sticky,  slippery.  The  combination  of  two  departments 
of  sense  in  one  object  gratifies.  Snch  an  object  is  like- 
wise his  own  foot  seen  and  touched.  In  case  the  object 
seen  and  touched  stands  immovably  firm,  and  so  can  not, 
like  the  ball  and  the  toes,  be  brought  to  the  mouth,  the 
child  tries,  notwithstanding,  in  unmistakable  fashion,  to 
get  hold  of  it,  to  pull  it  to  him,  and  to  bring  it  to  his 
mouth,  the  source  of  his  greatest  feeling  of  pleasure,  no 
matter  whether  it  is  large  or  small.  At  the  same  time 
it  often  happens,  as  I  perceived  to  my  astonishment  on 
the  occasion  of  his  taking  hold  of  a  firmly-standing  carved 
post,  that  the  child  (borne  upon  the  arm)  draws  himself 
with  the  arms  to  the  desired  object  and  puts  his  mouth 
close  up  to  it.  The  pleasure  obtained  in  this  way,  also, 
through  the  touching  of  the  object  seen,  which  is  the  occa- 
sion of  renewed  seizing  movements,  is  probably  likewise 
the  occasion  of  the  desire  to  taste  it.  For  now,  after 
the  nursing-bottle  is  presented  to  the  child,  he  grasps 
at  it  with  his  hand ;  whereas  he  used  to  suck  at  it  with 
arms  inactive,  he  now  tries  to  hold  it  fast,  sometimes 
with  the  expression  of  eagerness.  In  this  case  the  re- 
membrance of  the  taste,  or  what  in  this  regard  amounts 
to  the  same  thing,  the  gratification  in  the  appeasing  of 
hunger,  stimulates  the  seizing  movement.  The  order 
of  succession  originally  is :  tasting,  then  tasting  and 
seeing,  then  seeing  and  desiring,  tasting  and  desiring 
more,  thereupon  seeing,  seizing,  tasting.  Through 
repetition  of   these  associations,  probably,  the  remem- 


INSTINCTIVE   MOVEMENTS.  251 

brance  of  the  taste  Las,  as  it  were,  become  amalgamated 
with  seeing  and  seizing  in  general,  until  experience  has 
taught  that  the  things  touched  and  seized  have  no  taste 
or  have  a  bad  taste. 

It  is  worthy  of  notice  in  this  connection,  that  pre- 
cisely during  the  first  attempts  at  seizing,  the  greatest 
strain  of  attention,  along  with  protrusion  of  the  lips 
was  observed,  and  later — in  the  thirty-fourth  week, 
when  the  seizing  was  done  more  quickly — the  mouth 
was  opened  before  or  directly  after  the  seizing  and  then 
the  object  was  put  into  it.  At  the  first  attempts  the 
putting  into  the  mouth  followed  without  being  intended 
beforehand,  but  now  the  hand  is  stretched  out  with  the 
purpose  of  bringing  the  thing  seen  to  the  mouth,  and 
the  mouth  is  open  ;  here  it  is  to  be  borne  in  mind  that 
the  very  thing  that  excites  pleasure,  the  nursing-bottle, 
was  especially  often  carried  to  the  mouth.  If  the  child 
at  this  period  and  afterward  was  allowed  to  carry  a  crust 
of  bread  to  the  mouth  without  assistance,  it  was  often 
seen  that  in  spite  of  accuracy  in  laying  hold  of  the 
crust,  it  was  carried  not  into  the  already-opened  mouth, 
but  against  the  cheek,  chin,  or  nose — an  uncertainty  of 
touch  that  appeared  still  in  the  first  attempts  to  eat 
with  a  small  spoon,  in  the  seventeenth  month. 

Failure  to  grasp,  grasping  too  short,  and  grasping  at 
objects  very  far  off,  disappear  so  gradually  that  I  can 
not  assign  a  definite  period  of  disappearance. 

Neither  could  it  be  ascertained  at  what  time  the 
putting  of  the  fingers  into  the  mouth  and  the  grasping 
at  the  face  without  getting  hold  of  any  part  of  it  ceased. 
Invariably,  shortly  before  and  after  a  tooth  comes 
through,  the  child  moves  his  fingers  about  in  the  mouth 


252  THE   MIND   OF   THE   CHILD. 

a  good  deal,  keeping  three  or  four  fingers  in  the  mouth. 
When  alleviation  had  been  experienced  several  times 
through  chewing  of  the  lingers,  these  no  longer  went 
accidentally — after  moving  about  the  hands  in  the  air  at 
random — but  went  regularly  during  teething  into  the 
mouth ;  and  it  must  come,  finally,  through  frequent 
repetition  of  the  movement,  to  a  reflex  process,  as  the 
hand  is  brought  near  to  every  approachable  place  that 
feels  pain.  The  first  experience  that  biting  the  fingers, 
even  before  the  teeth  are  there,  moderates  the  pain  or 
the  tickling,  appears  as  a  consequence  of  the  putting  of 
the  hand  into  the  mouth ;  other  painful  impressions 
likewise  become,  therefore,  later,  the  occasion  of  move- 
ments of  the  hand  which  may  simulate  seizing-move- 
ments. 

In  the  forty-third  week  the  child  without  help  not 
only  grasps  properly  with  both  hands  at  a  nursing-bot- 
tle, but  carries  it  correctly  to  the  mouth ;  the  same  with 
a  biscuit  lying  before  him.  He  pulls  strongly  at  the 
beard  of  a  face  that  he  can  reach. 

On  the  other  hand,  he  grasped  at  the  flame  of  the 
lamp  in  the  forty-fifth  week ;  in  the  forty-seventh,  and 
later,  at  objects  separated  from  him  by  a  pane  of  glass, 
as  if  they  were  attainable,  and  that  persistently,  with 
attention  and  eagerness,  as  if  the  pane  were  not  there. 
The  discovery  of  the  transparency  of  glass,  which  as- 
suredly appears  wonderful  to  every  child,  requires  many 
such  fruitless  attempts  at  seizing. 

The  greatest  progress  in  the  movement  of  the  mus- 
cles of  the  arm  manifested  itself  at  just  this  time,  in 
the  fact  that  often  very  small  shreds  of  paper  on  the 
floor  were  grasped  at  and  deftly  laid  hold  of  by  thumb 


INSTINCTIVE   MOVEMENTS.  253 

and  forefinger.  But  precisely  this  frequent  play  with 
the  bits  of  paper  afforded  occasion  to  observe  the  above- 
mentioned  uncertainty  of  the  sense  of  touch  when  un- 
supported by  sight.  For  whereas  before  tins,  when  the 
child  used  to  take  pleasure  in  biting  pieces  out  of  a 
newspaper,  these  had  to  be  taken  out  of  his  mouth  by 
some  one,  in  the  fourteenth  month  he  could  be  allowed 
to  bite  the  paper  to  pieces  undisturbed,  because  he  now 
of  himself  took  out  of  his  mouth  with  his  right  hand 
every  piece  he  had  bitten  off,  and  handed  it  to  me.  In 
connection  with  this,  I  made  the  observation  that  the 
shred  of  paper  in  the  mouth  on  or  near  the  lips  was  not 
always  found  by  the  child  when  he  touched  with  the 
tips  of  his  fingers.  Without  the  guidance  of  the  sense 
of  sight,  therefore,  touch  was  still  quite  imperfect. 
Both  senses  united,  on  the  other  hand,  did  astonishing 
things  even  much  earlier  than  this,  in  spite  of  the  fail- 
ure to  grasp,  especially  the  failure  to  grasp  far  enough, 
as  late  as  the  second  year  (p.  55),  and  the  numerous 
attempts  to  get  hold  of  what  could  not  be  laid  hold  of 
(p.  63).  Thus  I  saw  the  child,  at  the  age  of  ten  months, 
amuse  himself,  entirely  of  his  own  accord,  by  taking 
deliberately  from  one  hand  into  the  other  a  long  hair 
that  he  had  found  on  the  carpet,  and  by  gazing  at  it. 

Of  the  many  thousand  nerve-fibers  and  muscle-fibers 
that  must  come  into  harmonious  activity  in  order  that 
such  a  movement  may  take  place,  the  child  knows  noth- 
ing, but  he  directs  already  the  whole  nervo-muscular 
mechanism  with  his  will,  which  was  generated  by  desire. 
Before  he  is  capable  of  this,  the  sensuous  stimulus  that 
starts  the  seizing-movements  must  have  been  repeated 
many  hundreds  of  times,  so  that  one  and  the  same  sensa- 


254  THE   MIND   OF   THE   CHILD. 

tion  often  returned,  an  agreeable  feeling  arose,  a  per- 
ception at  first  indistinct,  then  gradually  more  and  more 
distinct,  and  finally  an  idea  of  the  objectivity  of  the 
thing  seizable  could  be  formed.  Secondly,  the  move- 
ment of  the  arm,  also,  which,  before  as  well  as  after 
birth,  is  directed  to  the  mouth  or  the  face,  must  have 
been  very  often  repeated  before  it  came  to  conscious- 
ness— i.  e.,  before  an  idea  of  it  could  be  formed,  be- 
cause in  the  beginning  it  was  not  perceived  at  all  by 
the  child.  When,  however,  the  desired  object  is 
represented  in  idea,  and  the  movement  of  the  arm  is 
represented,  the  rapid  succession  of  both  representations 
favors  their  union,  which  calls  into  life  the  will.  In 
fact,  the  distinct  representation  of  the  movement  is  not 
required  any  more  at  a  later  period,  provided  only  that 
the  aim  is  clearly  recognized.  Too  much  importance 
has  often  been  attributed  to  the  representation  of  the 
movement,  the  representation  not  being  necessary  be- 
forehand except  for  a  new  purposive  movement ;  this 
mistake  has  been  made  by  W.  Gude  and  Lotze;  the 
representation  of  the  aim  remains  the  principal  thing. 
For  many  voluntary  movements — e.  g.,  those  of  the 
eyes — are  generally  not  clearly  represented  beforehand, 
at  any  period,  while  the  end  and  aim  of  them  fill  the 
consciousness.  At  that  time  the  kind  of  movement 
necessary  to  the  attainment  of  the  aim  is  known  only  in 
a  general  way. 

But,  in  order  to  be  able  to  execute  a  simple  volun- 
tary movement,  such  as  reaching  after  objects,  similar 
movements  must  previously  have  been  often  executed 
involuntarily,  because  only  through  these  can  muscular 
sensations  or  sensations  of  innervation   be  developed. 


INSTINCTIVE   MOVEMENTS.  255 

These  are,  however,  necessary  pioneers  for  the  voluntary 
motor  impulses,  and  they  play  an  important  part  in 
other  movements  also  besides  the  voluntary  ones  of  the 
child  and  of  the  adult,  viz.,  the  instinctive  ones.  For 
the  memory-images  of  the  innervation-sensations,  or 
muscular  sensations,  which  the  contraction  of  the  mus- 
cle in  contrast  with  its  repose  brings  with  it,  determine 
which  muscles  are  to  be  contracted,  and  how  strongly 
each  is  to  be  contracted,  after  the  kind  of  movement  to 
be  executed  is  settled  upon. 

Now,  if  the  repetition  of  a  voluntary  movement — 
e.  g.,  a  seizing  movement — occurs  very  often,  then  the 
turning  to  account  of  those  memory-images  is  hastened 
and  simplified  to  such  a  degree  that,  without  the  co- 
operation of  the  brain-sensorium,  the  brain-motorium 
alone  sets  the  muscles  in  activity  after  a  sensory  im- 
pression has  acted  upon  it.  Herein  consists  the  chief 
characteristic  of  the  cerebro-motor  acquired  reflexes ;  to 
these  belongs  also  the  grasping  at  a  hat  caught  by  a  gust 
of  wind,  at  a  later  period  of  life. 

But,  on  the  other  hand,  in  dreams — e.  g.,  with  the 
child  (and  with  the  hypnotic  subject)  after  exclusion  of 
the  will—the  sensory  impression  may  affect  only  the 
brain-sensorium  in  such  a  way  that  complex  movements 
go  on  just  as  if  they  were  voluntary.  Such  movements 
Carpenter  has  called  ideo-motor  movements.  The  cere- 
bral-motor impulses  are  accordingly  not  purely  reflexive, 
as  are  those  of  the  spinal  reflexes,  for  in  the  latter  no 
center  of  higher  rank,  no  brain-sensorium,  no  brain- 
motorium,  is  originally  concerned. 

Moreover,  for  both  these  last  there  comes  into  con- 
sideration a  cerebral  inhibitory  apparatus,  which,  want- 


256  TIIE   MIND   OF   THE   CHILD. 

ing  to  the  infant,  arrests  more  and  more  easily,  with  his 
increasing  development,  the  voluntary,  or  ideo-motor  or 
purely  reflexive  (spinal-motor)  movement  that  follows 
the  sensory  impression,  and  becomes  manifest  at  the 
period  when  self-control  begins. 

That  movement  of  the  quite  young  child,  which 
from  the  beginning  is  commonly  called  "  seizing,"  origi- 
nates, accordingly,  in  the  following  manner : 

The  moving  of  the  hands  hither  and  thither,  espe- 
cially to  the  face,  is  inborn,  impulsive,  determined  by 
the  position  of  the  child  within  the  womb. 

The  clasping  of  the  finger  laid  in  the  hand  in  the 
first  days  is  purely  reflexive. 

Then  follows  the  "  absent-minded  "  (in  the  adult)  or 
"  mechanical "  holding  fast  of  objects  put  into  the  hand 
as  an  unconscious,  instinctive  movement  (in  the  adult, 
a  movement  that  has  become  unconscious  or  no  longer 
conscious ;  in  the  child,  a  movement  not  yet  conscious). 

Next  is  observed  the  holding  fast  of  the  object  with 
contraposition  of  the  thumb,  when  the  object  is  so 
situated  that  the  hand,  moving  hither  and  thither,  acci- 
dentally grasps  it.  As  the  thumb  now  co-operates,  the 
pure  reflex  has  become  complicated,  and  the  central 
separation  of  the  previously  united  impulses  has  been 
attained.  As  the  holding-fast  lasts  much  longer  than  in 
case  of  the  reflex,  and  the  attention,  although  only  very 
imperfectly  and  transiently,  is  directed  to  the  new  experi- 
ence of  holding  fast,  the  movement  has  now  no  longer 
taken  place  without  the  consciousness  of  the  cerebral 
sensorium,  but  it  is  not  yet  voluntary ;  this  kind  of 
primitive  holding-fast  (not  seizing)  still  approximates  to 
the  instinctive  (ideo-motor)  movements. 


INSTINCTIVE   MOVEMENTS.  257 

In  the  seventeenth  to  the  nineteenth  weeks  the  par- 
ticipation of  the  will  of  the  brain -motoriutn  in  this  act 
begins  to  attain  its  full  force  ;  the  child  does  not  yet 
stretch  out  its  arm,  but  wills  to  hold  fast  the  object 
that  has  accidentally  come  into  his  hand.  He  looks  at 
it  and  forms  an  idea  of  it.  From  this  fixation  of  the 
held  object  to  the  seizing  of  the  object  fixated  is  only  a 
step.  With  that,  willed-seizing  is  present,  since  the 
path  of  connection  is  at  last  passable  from  the  brain- 
sensorium  to  the  brain-motorium. 

Years  now  pass  before  this  seizing,  which  is  indis- 
pensable for  the  development  of  the  understanding  (i.  e., 
for  having  experiences)  is  perfected,  and  the  voluntary 
inhibition  of  it  by  new,  chieliy  inculcated  ideas,  becomes 
possible. 

Most  of  the  voluntary  inhibitions,  the  first  acts  of 
self-control,  come  into  existence  at  a  period  that  lies  out- 
side of  the  scheme  of  this  exposition. 

3.  Sucking,  Biting,  Chewing,  Teeth-Grinding,  Licking. 

Sucking  belongs  to  the  earliest  co-ordinated  move- 
ments of  man ;  it  is  associated  directly  with  swallow- 
ing, and  has  been  repeatedly  perceived  even  before  the 
child  was  fully  born,  in  case  an  object  that  could  be 
sucked  got  into  the  mouth,  and  upon  the  upper  surface 
of  the  tongue,  at  the  same  time  touching  the  lips. 
When  (December,  1870)  I  touched  with  my  finger  the 
tongue  of  a  child,  born  at  the  right  time,  and  moved 
my  finger  to  and  fro,  or  turned  it  on  the  upper  surface 
of  the  tongue,  three  minutes  after  the  head  had  emerged 
— the  child  was  already  crying  feebly  as  soon  as  the 
mouth  was  free — the  babe  immediately  stopped  crying 


258  THE   MIND   OF   THE   CHILD. 

and  sucked  briskly,  but  not  when  I  merely  touched  the 
lips  or  put  the  finger  between  them.  Without  doubt, 
every  normal  child  has  become  acquainted  with  the 
swallowing  of  the  amniotic  fluid  before  birth,  but  has 
hardly  sucked  as  yet  at  his  own  fingers.  Still,  it  is  a 
matter  of  absolute  indifference,  for  the  performance  of 
the  act  of  sucking,  whether  liquid  comes  into  the  cavity 
of  the  mouth  or  not,  and  the  sucking  for  hours  at  empty 
rubber-bottles — a  vicious,  highly  reprehensible  practice 
— encouraged  in  Thuringia  for  the  purpose  of  keeping 
infants  quiet,  shows,  just  as  the  sucking  at  cloths  and 
at  the  fingers  a  few  minutes  after  birth  (according  to 
Champneys)  shows,  that  swallowing  is  not  required  for 
prolonged  sucking.  Yet  under  normal  conditions,  swal- 
lowing is  the  muscular  action  that  attaches  itself  directly 
to  sucking. 

Of  what  kind  is  this  movement,  which  is  to  so 
high  a  degree  indicative  of  adaptation  to  an  end  ?  As 
human  abortions  without  brain,  and  puppies  without  a 
cerebrum,  can  suck,  the  participation  of  the  intellect, 
any  choice  or  purpose,  is  excluded  in  advance.  But 
since  in  the  normal  condition  only  the  hungry,  or,  at 
least,  only  the  not  completely  satisfied  infant,  sucks 
(the  one  that  is  full  rejecting  the  nipple  forcibly),  we 
have  here  something  other  than  a  purely  reflex  move- 
ment. For  the  absence  of  the  sucking  movement  can 
not  be  ascribed  in  the  satisfied  child  to  fatigue  caused 
by  previous  sucking,  because  frequently  the  act  is  not 
renewed  for  a  long  time  after  the  previous  sucking  has 
been  finished.  No  more  is  it  an  impulsive  movement, 
since  it  appears,  in  the  waking  condition  at  the  begin- 
ning, only  after  lips,  or  tongue,  or  palate  are  touched  by 


INSTINCTIVE   MOVEMENTS.  259 

an  object  capable  of  being  sucked.  The  sucking  move- 
ments of  sleeping  (dreaming)  infants  with  empty,  un- 
touched mouth,  however,  show  that  the  act  may  arise 
from  purely  central  causes,  after  it  has  once  been  ini- 
tiated through  peripheral  stimuli. 

Accordingly,  sucking  must  be  classed  among  the  in- 
stinctive movements.  A  scruple  concerning  this  may 
easily  be  removed. 

It  has  been  maintained  that  young  animals  easily 
forget  how  to  suck,  if  they  omit  sucking  for  some  days. 
Such  an  assertion,  however,  relates  either  to  such  ani- 
mals (like  Guinea-pigs)  as  at  the  very  beginning  of  life 
bite  and  chew,  digest  other  food  than  milk,  and  soon 
have  no  more  need  to  suck ;  or  to  the  unlearning  of 
sucking  at  the  breast,  which  is  somewhat  less  easily  ac- 
complished than  is  sucking  from  the  bottle.  In  both 
cases,  therefore,  the  question  is  not  of  a  forgetting  of 
the  act  of  sucking — an  act  which  yields  great  pleasure 
to  older  children  also,  as  is  well  known,  and  even  to 
adults  (in  smoking). 

Of  all  the  movements  of  the  "  suckling,"  hardly  any 
is  so  perfect  from  the  beginning  as  that  which  gave 
him  this  name.  It  is  not  so  productive  on  the  first 
day,  indeed,  as  on  the  second ;  in  fact,  I  found  the 
efforts  at  sucking  in  the  first  hour  of  life,  with  healthy, 
new-born  children,  often  quite  devoid  of  effect  (1869) ; 
when  an  ivory  pencil  was  put  into  the  mouth,  they 
were  found  also  non-coord  mated  ;  but  again  they  may  be 
quite  regular,  and,  as  has  been  mentioned,  effectual,  at 
the  very  moment  of  birth ;  they  are  based,  therefore, 
on  hereditary  movements,  which  take  place  after  two 
weeks  with  machine-like  regularity,  without  imitation 


260  THE   MIND   OF   THE   CHILD. 

or  training,  and  without  other  movements,  except  swal- 
lowing. The  intermissions  in  sucking  that  occur  with 
shorter  intervals  in  the  first  days  of  life  than  at  a  later 
period,  depend  in  part  upon  fatigue,  in  part  upon  the 
quicker  tilling  of  the  little  stomach,  where  the  milk 
itself  is  not  of  unsuitable  quality.  On  the  other  hand, 
I  once  saw  a  babe  of  seven  days  (not  fully  satisfied,  no 
doubt)  after  ceasing  to  suck,  keep  up  the  movements 
of  the  mouth  as  in  sucking. 

It  has  long  been  known  that  children  do  not  at  once 
find  the  nipple  without  help,  when  they  are  placed  at 
the  breast,  but  only  after  several  days  (in  one  case  not 
till  the  eighth  day),  thus  later  than  is  the  case  with  ani- 
mals. Like  the  latter,  the  very  young  child,  before  the 
nipple  is  put  into  the  mouth,  makes  lateral  movements 
of  the  head,  which  sometimes  look  like  a  groping  about ; 
tbe  opening  wide  of  the  eyes  before  being  placed  at 
the  breast  and  the  keeping  of  them  open  during  the 
nursing  (very  surprising  in  the  first  week,  in  a  light  not 
glaring)  has,  however,  no  connection  with  the  finding 
of  the  nipple,  since  even  those  born  blind,  it  appears, 
are  no  later  in  finding  it.  The  action  of  the  eyes  is 
rather,  in  the  first  week,  simply  the  expression  of  pleas- 
urable feeling  (pp.  32  and  143). 

It  often  happens  that,  when  the  child  is  placed  at 
the  breast,  the  nipple  does  not  get  into  the  mouth ;  but 
the  child  sucks  hard  at  the  skin  near  it  as  late  as  the 
third  week — a  proof  of  the  lack  of  discernment  at  this 
period.  Yet  the  connection  of  the  breast,  as  a  whole, 
with  nursing  is  known,  for  as  early  as  the  twenty-second 
day  I  saw  the  babe  open  wide  its  mouth  at  a  distance 
of  an  inch  and  a  half  from  the  nipple.     That  the  sense 


INSTINCTIVE   MOVEMENTS.  261 

of  smell  is  less  decisive  in  the  matter  than  the  sense  of 
sight  is  proved  beyond  question  by  observations  upon 
infants  whose  eyes  are  bandaged,  and  upon  those  born 
blind.  In  animals  born  blind  (dogs),  the  sense  of  smell 
is,  on  the  contrary,  recognized  as  an  indispensable  guide. 
The  stretching  out  of  the  arms  and  the  straining  open 
of  the  eyes  by  the  older  infant,  at  sight  of  the  breast  at 
a  distance,  is  against  the  participation  of  the  smell.  In 
the  first  period,  the  nipple  is  probably  found  by  means 
of  the  sense  of  touch  in  the  lips. 

Besides,  the  sense  of  touch  plays  an  important  part 
in  even  the  act  of  nursing,  from  the  beginning.  For  it 
is  not  any  object  whatever  put  into  the  mouth  that  is 
sucked,  but  only  certain  objects,  not  too  large,  not  too 
rough,  not  too  hot  or  too  cold,  and  not  of  a  strongly 
bitter,  or  sour,  or  salt  taste.  In  general,  hungry  chil- 
dren suck  at  their  own  fingers  from  the  first  days ;  if 
they  are  not  hungry,  they  like  to  hold  the  fingers  in  the 
mouth,  especially  when  teething,  without  sucking  at 
them,  and  in  the  bath  they  suck  at  a  sponge  (in  the 
eighth  month),  which  they  hold  to  the  lips  like  a  piece 
of  bread. 

Biting  is  not  less  instinctive  than  sucking.  In  the 
tenth  month  my  child  no  longer  sucked  at  the  finger 
put  into  his  mouth,  but  bit  it  almost  invariably.  Yet 
I  can  not  give  the  exact  date  at  which  biting  begins 
and  sucking  at  the  finger  first  ceases.  In  the  seven- 
teenth week  the  finger  was  already  plainly  bitten— i.  e., 
compressed  firmly  between  the  toothless  jaws  ;  in  the 
eleventh  and  twelfth  months  the  child  seized  my  hand, 
carried  it  to  his  mouth,  and  bit  the  skin  till  it  hurt,  as 
he  did  in  general  with  the  fingers  of  others  which  he 
19 


262  THE   MIND   0F  THE   CHILD. 

himself  put  into  his  mouth.  Just  so  he  tried  at  this 
period  to  bite  to  pieces  a  cube  of  solid  glass.  In  the 
tenth  month  he  had  learned  without  instruction  to 
crunch,  with  his  four  teeth,  bread,  which  he  then  swal- 
lowed. After  his  teeth  came,  almost  everything  de- 
sirable was  brought  into  contact  with  them  as  far  as 
this  was  possible,  and  was  then  bitten,  and  he  liked  to 
smack  his  lips  (eleventh  month). 

Before  the  infant  gets  his  first  tooth,  he  already 
makes  frequent  movements  of  chewing,  which  are  espe- 
cially multiplied  after  a  hard  bread-erust  has  been  put 
into  the  mouth.  The  flow  of  blood  that  is  increased 
before  the  teeth  come  through  is,  toward  the  end  of 
the  first  three  months,  when  driveling  has  begun,  doubt- 
less associated  with  disagreeable  sensations,  which  are 
referred  to  the  gum.  But  the  fact  that  the  toothless 
babe  makes  perfect  chewing- movements — he  who  has 
never  had  in  his  mouth  an  object  capable  of  being 
chewed,  except  his  own  fingers,  that  have  often  got  in 
there — goes  to  prove  that  the  function  of  chewing  comes 
into  activity,  without  practice,  as  soon  as  the  requisite 
nerves  and  muscles  and  the  center  are  developed.  Chew- 
ing is  a  purely  hereditary  function  ;  it  is  instinctive. 

Another  movement,  absolutely  original,  and  proba- 
bly practiced  for  a  while  by  all  teething  babes,  is  grind- 
ing the  teeth.  In  the  ninth  month  it  affords  the  child 
great  satisfaction  to  rub  an  upper  and  a  lower  incisor 
together,  so  as  to  be  heard  at  the  distance  of  a  metre. 
The  infant  seems  to  be  interested  in  the  sudden  ap- 
pearance of  his  teeth  in  quick  succession.  For  he 
makes  comical  movements  of  the  mouth — e.  g.,  pro- 
trudes both  lips  far  out,  makes  perfect  chewing-move- 


INSTINCTIVE   MOVEMENTS.  263 

ments,  and  performs  gymnastics  with  the  tongue  with- 
out the  utterance  of  sound.  But  the  grinding  is  prac- 
ticed chiefly  with  four  teeth. 

Another  movement  that  belongs  here  is  absolutely 
original  —  licking.  If  this  were  not  innate,  how  could 
the  new-born  human  child  within  the  first  twenty-four 
hours  of  its  life  lick  sugar?  I  have  myself  observed  it, 
and  have  also  seen  licking  for  milk  on  the  second  and 
third  days,  and  that  hardly  less  adroit  than  in  the  seventh 
month.  At  this  period  not  only  are  desired  objects, 
whether  stationary  or  seized,  stroked  with  the  tongue, 
but  the  lips  of  the  mother  in  kissing ;  and,  vice  versa, 
the  tongue  is  stroked  with  the  objects. 

All  the  movements  of  the  infant  here  enumerated — 
sucking,  biting,  smacking,  chewing,  tooth-grinding,  lick- 
ing— must  be  designated  as  typical  instinctive  move- 
ments, like  the  pecking  of  the  chicken.  All  are  useful 
to  him,  for  even  the  grinding  with  the  first  teeth  is  of 
use  in  making  the  child  familiar  with  them.  All  are 
hereditary  and  involuntary. 

4.    Holding  the  Head. 

All  new-born  children,  and  chickens  just  hatched, 
probably  all  new-born  mammals,  and  all  birds  just 
hatched,  are  unable  to  hold  the  head  up  and  to  keep  it 
balanced.  It  falls  forward,  to  the  left  or  the  right,  even 
backward,  when  it  is  held  up  straight  by  some  one  else. 
In  this  respect  the  helplessness  of  the  human  child  is 
not  greater  than  that  of  the  chick  hardly  clear  of  the 
shell ;  but  the  latter  learns  in  a  few  hours  to  control 
better  the  muscles  required  for  holding  the  head  than 
the  child  does  in  many  weeks. 


264  THE   MIND   OF   THE   CHILD. 

This  muscular  activity  is  especially  adapted  to  help 
us  in  following  the  growth  of  the  child's  will.  For 
weakness  of  the  muscles  can  not  be  the  cause  of  the 
inability  to  balance  the  head,  because  other  movements 
of  the  head  are  quickly  executed.  At  the  end  of  the 
first  and  at  the  beginning  of  the  second  week  I  saw  the 
babe,  on  being  placed  at  the  breast,  continually  make 
vigorous  lateral  movements  of  the  head,  which  are  made 
in  like  fashion  by  very  young  Guinea-pigs,  calves,  foals, 
and  other  animals  in  sucking.  But  during  the  first  ten 
weeks  no  trace  could  be  discovered,  in  the  case  of  my 
boy,  of  an  attempt  to  hold  the  head  in  equilibrium.  In 
the  eleventh  week  the  head  no  longer  bobs  about,  abso- 
lutely unsteady,  when  the  child  is  made  to  sit  up  straight, 
but  rather  is  balanced  occasionally,  although  very  im- 
perfectly as  yet.  In  the  twelfth  week  the  head  often 
falls  forward,  also  backward  and  sidewise,  and  is  only 
for  moments  in  equilibrium  ;  yet  a  gain  may  be  per- 
ceived from  day  to  day  in  this  respect,  as  the  short  dura- 
tion of  the  holding  erect  becomes  daily  somewhat  longer 
on  the  average.  In  the  thirteenth  week  the  head  falls 
but  seldom  to  one  side,  even  when  it  is  entirely  free ; 
rather  is  it  for  the  most  part  tolerably  well  balanced. 
In  the  fourteenth  week  (in  the  case  of  another  child  not 
till  the  twenty-first)  it  falls  forward  also,  but  seldom 
(when  the  child  is  held  up  straight),  and  in  the  sixteenth 
week  the  bobbing  of  the  head  has  altogether  ceased ; 
the  holding  up  of  the  head  is  now  settled  for  life. 

In  this  important  step  is  expressed  an  unquestionable, 
vigorous  act  of  will.  For  the  contractions  of  the  mus 
cles  that  balance  the  head  are  at  first  not  willed ;  they 
are  not  reflexive,  not  imitative,  but  impulsive,  and  then, 


INSTINCTIVE   MOVEMENTS.  265 

as  the  purpose  of  them  soon  becomes  discernible,  they 
are  instinctive.  The  benefit  of  these  contractions  is  not 
recognized  by  the  infant,  but  the  muscular  feelings  that 
go  with  them  are  distinguished  from  other  muscular 
feelings  by  their  agreeable  consequences ;  since,  for  ex- 
ample, the  child  can  see  better  when  the  head  is  erect, 
and  food  can  be  taken  more  conveniently ;  therefore, 
these  muscular  contractions  are  preferred.  Among  all 
possible  positions  of  the  head,  then,  that  of  equilibrium 
gradually  appears  oftenest  in  the  upright  position  of 
children,  because  it  is  the  most  advantageous,  and  when 
children  establish  it  we  say  they  possess  will.  Adults 
let  the  head  fall  when  they  go  to  sleep  sitting,  just  as 
infants  do  when  awake.  Their  will  is  extinguished 
when  they  cease  to  be  awake.  There  is  thus,  during 
the  waking  period,  a  certain  outlay  of  will  permanently 
necessary  for  balancing  the  head,  and  the  new-born  and 
the  very  young  child,  though  awake,  do  not  yet  possess 
this  small  quantum  of  will.  We  may,  therefore,  without 
hesitation,  refer  the  period  of  the  first  distinct  manifesta- 
tion of  activity  of  will  in  the  infant  in  this  field  to  that 
week  in  which  the  head,  while  he  is  awake,  no  longer 
bobs  hither  and  thither — i.  e.,  the  sixteenth  week  in  the 
case  of  my  child,  the  only  one  accurately  observed  as 
yet;  in  general,  the  fourth  to  the  fifth  month.  R. 
Demme  observed — not  so  accurately,  to  be  sure — one 
hundred  and  fifty  children  in  reference  to  this,  and 
found  that  "  very  powerfully-developed  infants  carry 
the  head  properly  balanced  as  early  as  toward  the  end 
of  the  third  or  within  the  first  half  of  the  fourth  month 
of  life ;  children  moderately  strong  do  this  for  the  first 
time  in  the  course  of  the  second  half  of  the  fourth 


2G6  THE   MIXD   0F  THE   CHILD. 

month ;  and  more  delicate  individuals  that  fall  some- 
what below  the  normal  standard  in  their  nutrition  do 
not  attain  to  this  before  the  fifth  or  the  beginning  of 
the  sixth  month  of  life."  The  statement  of  Ileyfelder, 
that  even  after  six  or  eight  weeks  attempts  were  made 
to  hold  the  head  erect,  I  can  not  confirm. 

Observations  are  lacking,  also,  concerning  the  first 
attempts  of  the  infant,  who  at  the  beginning  lies 
straight  or  keeps  the  position  it  had  before  birth,  to 
lie  on  the  side.  One  child  did  not  accomplish  it  until 
the  fourth  month,  and  only  by  great  effort.  When  I 
laid  my  boy,  in  the  ninth  and  tenth  months,  on  a  pillow 
face  downward,  the  unusual  position  seemed  to  be  ex- 
tremely uncomfortable  to  him.  He  behaved  in  a  very 
awkward  fashion,  but  turned  over  without  any  help,  so 
that  after  a  minute  or  so  he  lay  on  his  back  again,  or 
supported  himself  on  his  hands.  Something  similar  to 
this  happened,  however,  even  in  the  sixth  week  of  life. 
The  infant,  when  laid  upon  a  pillow  face  downward, 
propped  himself  even  at  that  time  on  his  forearms, 
turning  his  head  meantime  to  one  side,  without  cry- 
ing, thus  exchanging  the  uncomfortable  attitude  for 
one  less  uncomfortable.  But  in  this  there  is  as  yet  no 
choice. 

In  the  first  three  months  no  voluntary  movement 
appears.  JSTew-born  children  can  not  so  much  as  free 
the  face  by  turning  the  head  when  any  one  covers 
the  face  with  his  hand  or  lays  them  on  a  pillow  with 
the  face  downward.  They  cry  and  move  the  extremities 
aimlessly,  so  that  it  can  not  be  told  with  certainty 
whether  the  new  position  is  agreeable  to  them  or  not 
Some  of  them,  indeed,  retain  for  some  time,  without 


INSTINCTIVE   MOVEMENTS.  2G7 

moving,  every  position  that  is  given  to  them — a  thing 
which  I  have  observed  also  in  new-born  animals. 

5.   Learning  to  Sit. 

The  first  successful  efforts  to  sit  alone  are  referred 
(by  Ploss)  to  the  fourth  month,  or  (by  Sigismund)  to  the 
period  from  the  seventeenth  to  the  twenty-sixth  week. 
Heyfelder  also  states  that  vigorous  children  of  five  to 
six  months  sit  with  the  whole  of  the  upper  part  of  the 
body  erect.  R.  Derame  found,  on  the  other  hand,  that 
very  powerfully  developed  children,  "  without  specially 
remarkable  strain  of  their  muscular  powers,  could  sit  all 
alone  toward  the  end  of  the  seventh  or  at  the  beginning 
of  the  eighth  month  for  several  minutes."  Those  of 
moderate  strength  did  not  achieve  the  same  thing  till 
the  ninth  and  tenth  months;  weakly  ones  in  the 
eleventh  and  twelfth  months. 

With  my  child,  who  was  vigorous,  we  succeeded 
with  surprising  ease  in  the  first  attempt  to  have  him 
take  a  sitting  posture  contrived  for  him  so  that  his  back 
would  be  well  supported.  This  was  in  the  fourteenth 
week.  In  the  twenty-second  week  the  child  actually 
raised  himself  to  a  sitting  posture  when  he  wanted  to 
grasp  at  my  face ;  but  it  was  not  till  the  thirty-ninth 
week  that  he  could  sit  alone  for  any  length  of  time ; 
then  he  liked  sitting,  but  not  without  a  support.  Even 
in  his  baby-carriage  he  needed  that  (in  the  fortieth  and 
forty -first  week  still)  in  order  to  keep  sitting.  But 
although  he  could  sit  only  for  moments,  at  most,  with- 
out any  support,  yet  he  always  kept  trying,  manifestly 
to  his  own  gratification,  to  maintain  his  equilibrium. 

Finally,  in  the  forty-secoud  week  the  child  sits  up, 


2G8  TIIE  MIXD  0F  TnE  child. 

naked  in  the  bath,  without  support,  holding  his  back 
straight ;  so  likewise  in  the  carriage,  where  the  clothes, 
coverings,  and  pillows  essentially  facilitate  the  balanc- 
ing. The  more  difficult  sitting  upright  in  the  bath, 
with  its  smooth  sides,  demands  in  the  following  period 
his  entire  attention.  So  long  as  his  attention  is  not 
claimed  by  fresh  impressions,  the  child  does  not  fall  to 
one  side.  He  gains  day  by  day  in  certainty  in  main- 
taining his  equilibrium,  so  that  after  some  days  he  sits 
for  a  full  minute  undressed  in  the  bath,  or  in  the  car- 
riage, without  any  support.  From  the  eleventh  month 
on,  sitting  becomes  a  habit  for  life. 

In  the  beginning  there  appears  along  with  this  a 
peculiarity  that  is  also  found  in  monkeys,  as  was  brought 
into  notice  by  Lauder  Brunton  (1881).  When,  viz., 
little  children  are  allowed  to  sit  alone  on  the  floor,  they 
turn  the  soles  of  the  feet  toward  each  other,  a  habit 
that  perhaps  comes  from  the  position  of  the  legs  before 
birth ;  for  every  child,  when  it  is  left  to  itself,  un- 
dressed and  unswathed,  in  a  warm  bed,  takes  for  a  long 
time  after  birth  an  attitude  resembling  the  intra-uterine 
attitude — legs  drawn  up  and  arms  bent  and  drawn  in. 

The  sitting  apparatus  used  by  different  nations  in 
earlier  times  and  at  present — children's  chairs  with  and 
wi  ih out  provision  for  locomotion — have  been  described 
by  H.  Plos3  in  his  book  "  The  Little  Child  from  the 
Cushion  to  the  First  Step "  ("  Das  Kleine  Kind  vom 
Tragbett  bis  zum  ersten  Schritt,"  1881),  and  illustrated 
with  cuts.  These  contrivances  all  serve  rather  the  con- 
venience of  those  who  have  the  care  of  the  child  than 
that  of  the  child  itself.  In  fact,  they  are  injurious 
when  used  too  early.     It  is  an  important  rule  in  or- 


INSTINCTIVE   MOVEMENTS.  200 

thopedy  and  in  pedagogy  that  no  child  be  habituated 
to  a  sitting  posture  before  he  has  of  himself  raised 
himself  with  the  upper  part  of  the  body  from  the  re- 
cumbent position,  in  attempts  to  seize  objects,  without 
aid — in  other  words,  before  he  wills  to  sit. 

That  the  time  at  which  this  is  done  is,  as  appears 
from  the  above  statements  of  different  observers,  very 
different  with  different  children — the  earliest  time  being 
generally  in  the  fourth  and  the  latest  in  the  twelfth 
month— is  explained  in  part  by  the  premature  attempts 
of  the  relatives  to  bring  on  the  sitting  by  artificial 
means ;  in  part  by  imitation,  where  brothers  and  sisters 
are  growing  up  together — the  latter,  however,  applies 
only  to  the  later  stages ;  in  part,  finally,  through  mus- 
cular weakness  also,  unequal  nourishment,  lack  of  care, 
or  neglect.  But,  apart  from  all  these  influences,  varia- 
tion in  the  statements  about  the  first  sitting  is  caused 
also  by  different  conceptions  on  the  part  of  the  observ- 
ers. The  attempt  to  sit  is  still  very  far  removed  from 
actual  sitting  ;  and  this  difference  has  been  often  over- 
looked. 

6.   Learning  to  Stand. 

The  first  successful  attempts  to  stand,  in  which  my 
child  stood  on  his  feet  without  support,  but  only  for  a 
moment,  were  made  in  the  thirty-ninth  week.  In  the 
following  weeks  he  needed  only  slight  aid,  and  he 
seemed  to  prefer  to  occupy  himself  with  learning  to 
stand  rather  than  with  learning  to  sit,  although  it  must 
have  been  more  of  a  strain  upon  him. 

In  the  eleventh  month  he  can  stand  without  any 
support,  and  even  stamps  with  his  foot,  but  for  all  that 
he  is  not  at  all  sure  on  his  feet.    Only  when  chairs  that 


270  THE   MIND   OF   THE   CHILD. 

offer  support,  or  watchful  arms  are  close  by,  is  the  up- 
right posture  maintained  longer  than  a  moment.  In  fact, 
until  some  time  after  the  first  year  of  life  has  been 
completed,  the  child  does  not  stand  for  a  longer  time 
than  that,  except  when  he  leans  back  in  a  corner.  I 
have  not  ascertained  that  in  the  numerous  attempts,  re- 
peated daily,  to  have  him  stand,  he  actually  fell  down  a 
single  time  in  the  first  year  ;  and  yet  he  gave  us  exactly 
the  impression  of  being  afraid  of  falling,  as  soon  as  he 
was  to  stand  without  leaning  or  being  held.  Finally, 
however,  at  the  beginning  of  the  second  year,  the  child 
could  stand  for  some  moments  without  a  hand  to  hold 
him.  Then  he  gained  gradually  more  confidence  in 
himself  through  his  efforts  to  walk,  which  were  under- 
taken at  the  same  time. 

A  little  girl,  who  in  the  nineteenth  week  had  raised 
herself  for  the  first  time  alone  to  a  sitting  posture, 
could  from  the  eleventh  month  on  hold  herself  upright 
for  some  moments  without  any  help,  and  could  get  up 
alone ;  her  sister  could  do  it  from  the  tenth  month  (Frau 
von  Strumpell). 

R.  Demme  found  that  only  very  vigorous  children 
were  able,  at  about  the  thirty-fifth  to  the  thirty-eighth 
weeks  of  life,  with  slight  support  (given  by  taking  hold 
of  their  hands  or  arms)  to  stand  for  some  minutes ;  and 
not  before  the  fortieth  to  the  forty-second  week  could 
they  stand  entirely  unsupported  for  two  or  three  minutes. 
Children  of  moderate  strength  arrived  at  this  only  about 
the  forty-fifth  to  the  forty-eighth  week ;  those  more 
feeble  not  till  the  twelfth  month  or  later.  These  obser- 
vations relate  to  one  hundred  and  fifty  Swiss  children. 

Sigismnnd  puts  the  date  of  the  first  attempts  to  stand 


INSTINCTIVE   MOVEMENTS.  271 

at  the  eighteenth  to  the  twenty -sixth  week.  u  At  that 
time  children  like  much  to  stand,  if  they  are  grasped 
under  the  arms."  But  standing  without  support  does 
not  begin  before  the  seventh  month,  and  generally  be- 
gins after  the  eighth. 

Imitation  co-operates  in  this,  for  in  families  in 
which  several  children  grow  up  together  the  younger 
ones  usually  learn  to  stand  somewhat  earlier  than  the 
iirst-born  does. 

7.   Learning  to  Walk. 

Learning  to  walk  is  mysterious  in  its  beginnings, 
because  the  reason  for  the  alternate  bending  and  stretch- 
ing of  the  legs  at  the  first  placing  of  the  infant  up- 
right is  not  apparent  to  him.  But  the  possibility  of 
learning  to  walk  rests  solely  on  the  invariably  repeated 
lifting  and  putting  down  of  the  feet  by  the  child  when 
standing  or  held  erect.  The  flexions  and  extensions 
occur,  to  be  sure,  when  the  child  is  lying  down,  in  bed 
or  in  the  bath  ;  but  the  regular  bending  and  stretching 
which  appear  even  months  before  the  first  successful 
attempt  to  walk,  when  the  child,  held  upright  on  the 
floor,  is  pushed  forward,  is  a  different  thing — it  is  in- 
stinctive. If  infants  could  sustain  life  without  coming 
in  contact  with  human  beings,  they  would  of  themselves 
doubtless  adopt,  but  considerably  later,  the  upright 
walk,  because  it  is  advantageous  for  command  of  the 
surrounding  region  through  eye  and  ear.  In  the 
nursery,  walking  is  almost  always  induced,  and  with 
unspeakable  pains,  earlier  than  can  be  good  for  children 
with  regard  to  the  growth  of  the  bones.  Children's  go- 
carts  (Kinderlaufstiihle)  and  walking-frames  (Gehkorbe) 
that  favor  such  premature  exercises  are  objectionable 


272  THE   MIND   OF   THE   CI1ILD. 

contrivances,  because  they  help  to  make  children  bow- 
legged.  Creeping,  the  natural  preparatory  school  for 
walking,  is  but  too  often  not  permitted  to  the  child, 
although  it  contributes  vastly  to  his  mental  develop- 
ment. For  liberty  to  get  to  a  desired  object,  to  look 
at  it  and  to  feel  of  it,  is  much  earlier  gained  by  the 
creeping  child  than  by  one  who  must  always  have  help 
in  order  to  change  his  location.  Mother  and  nurses,  in 
many  families,  prevent  children  from  creeping  before 
they  can  stand,  through  mere  prejudice  and  even  super- 
stition, even  when  it  is  not  the  convenience  of  the  el- 
ders, their  disinclination  to  be  observing  watchfully  the 
freely-moving  child,  that  determines  the  unjustifiable 
prohibition.  It  can  not  be  a  matter  of  indifference  for 
the  normal  mental  development  of  the  child  not  yet  a 
year  old,  whether  it  is  packed  in  a  basket  for  hours,  is 
swathed  in  swaddling-clothes,  is  tied  to  a  chair,  or  is 
allowed  to  creep  about  in  perfect  freedom  upon  a  large 
spread,  out-of-doors  in  summer,  and  in  a  room  mod- 
erately heated  in  winter. 

When  it  is  that  a  child  tries  to  creep  for  the  first 
time  can  not  be  accurately  stated,  just  because  he  is 
generally  hindered  in  such  attempts.  The  date  is  be- 
sides very  different  for  children  of  the  same  family, 
according  to  the  nutrition  and  the  firmness  of  the 
bones,  the  muscular  power,  and  the  desire  of  move- 
ment, which  depend  upon  the  nutrition.  Some  infants 
do  not  creep  at  all.  Moreover,  the  manner  of  creeping 
is  by  no  means  the  same  in  all  children,  nor  do  even 
European  children  all  drag  on  both  knees.  My  child 
dragged  as  a  rule  on  one  knee  only,  and  used  the  other 
for  an  advance  movement,  putting  forward  the  proper 


INSTINCTIVE   MOVEMENTS.  273 

foot,  as  Livingstone  reports  of  the  Manynema  children  in 
Africa.  But  like  all  children  he  learned  to  kneel  down 
only  a  long  time  after  he  could  walk,  whereas  animals 
a  day  old  kneel  of  themselves  (p.  G8).  So,  too,  it  was 
long  after  he  could  walk,  that  he  learned  to  move  for- 
ward on  hands  and  knees. 

The  date  of  the  first  successful  attempts  to  walk  also 
varies  much,  even  with  children  of  the  same  family, 
with  approximately  the  same  nourishment.  One  weakly 
child  (according  to  Sigismund)  could  ran  alone  cleverly 
when  it  was  eight  months  old,  another  at  sixteen 
months ;  many  do  not  learn  till  after  they  are  a  year 
and  a  half  or  even  two  years  old.  Much  depends  on  the 
surroundings.  If  a  child  grows  up  among  other  little 
children,  some  of  whom  are  walking,  some  learning  to 
walk,  then  he  will,  as  a  rule,  be  able  to  stand  erect  and 
to  run,  without  any  support  from  the  mother,  earlier 
than  if  he  grows  up  alone.  But  in  this  case  the  fre- 
quent repetition  of  the  instruction  in  walking  may 
shorten  considerably  the  natural  period.  Thus  Demme 
saw  (1882)  out  of  fifty  children  two  at  the  end  of  the 
ninth  month  of  life  walk  alone  for  some  minutes — un- 
steadily, to  be  sure ;  on  the  other  hand,  seven  not  till 
between  the  eighteenth  and  twenty-fourth  month ;  the 
remaining  forty-one  in  the  third  half-year.  A  vigorous 
female  child  with  whom  no  experiments  in  standing 
and  walking  were  undertaken,  began  to  creep  with  the 
fifth  month.  "  Up  to  the  end  of  the  tenth  month  she 
moved  forward  very  briskly  on  all-fours,  like  a  monkey, 
and  up  to  this  time,  according  to  the  express  statement 
of  the  trustworthy  parents,  she  had  made  no  attempt 
to  raise  the  body  upright.     With  the  fourteenth  month 


274  THE   MIXD  0F  THE  CHILD. 

she  began  first  to  raise  herself  up  by  firm  objects,  and 
from  the  sixteenth  to  the  eighteenth  learned  to  walk 
properly  without  any  assistance,  keeping  up  meantime 
the  frequent  practice  of  going  on  all-fours.  The  girl 
was  intelligent,  and  her  development  in  other  respects 
was  regular." 

In  general,  the  first  attempt  of  the  child  that  can 
hold  himself  erect  by  means  of  firm  objects,  to  stand 
free  of  support,  to  trot,  to  walk,  comes  into  the  time 
including  the  last  quarter  of  the  first  year  and  the  first 
three  quarters  of  the  second  year,  although  proper 
walking-movements  of  an  infant  supported  from  above 
appear  even  in  the  second  quarter  of  the  first  year. 
Champney's  child  was  held  upright  for  the  first  time  at 
the  close  of  the  nineteenth  week,  so  that  the  feet  just 
touched  the  ground,  and  was  moved  forward.  The 
legs  moved  themselves  fitly  all  the  time,  in  alternation. 
Every  step  was  taken  perfectly,  and  that  without  delay 
or  irregularity,  even  when  the  feet  were  held  too  high ; 
only,  that  when  the  boy  was  held  too  high,  the  alternat- 
ing movement  was  interrupted,  as  the  foot  remaining  in 
the  air  made  a  new  step.  The  touching  of  the  ground 
on  the  part  of  one  foot  seemed  to  furnish  the  stimulus 
for  the  movement  of  the  other.  These  perfectly  cor- 
rect observations — out  of  the  nineteenth  week — support 
absolutely  my  view  of  the  act  of  walking  as  an  instinct- 
ive movement. 

It  was  after  the  close  of  the  first  quarter  of  the 
second  year  that  my  child,  standing  unsupported  on  his 
feet,  suddenly  trotted  for  the  first  time  around  the 
table,  swaying,  to  be  sure,  or  staggering  like  a  drunken 
man  that  wants  to  run,  bnt  without  falling.     And  from 


INSTINCTIVE   MOVEMENTS.  275 

that  day  forth  he  could  walk  upright,  at  first  only 
rapidly,  hardly  except  on  a  trot,  as  if  the  only  thought 
were  to  prevent  the  falling  forward,  and  with  arms  ex- 
tended in  front  —  then  slower  and  more  securely. 
Within  the  next  ten  weeks,  however,  the  child  went 
over  a  threshold  hardly  an  inch  high,  between  two 
rooms,  only  by  holding  on,  and  was  often  seen  at  this 
period  to  fling  with  a  jerk  the  foot  that  was  put  down 
in  advance,  like  a  tabetic  patient,  or  to  lift  it  too  high 
and  set  it  down  too  hard.  The  muscular  sense  was  not 
yet  developed. 

In  order  to  give  a  clear  idea  of  the  gradually  pro- 
gressing development,  I  place  together  here  a  few  more 
observations  which  I  made  upon  my  child  concerning 
the  first  sitting,  creeping,  standing,  walking,  and  run- 
ning : 

88 d  and  23d  weeks. — Lying  on  his  back  the  infant 
often  lifts  himself  up  to  a  sitting  posture,  and  is  pleased 
when  he  is  placed  upright  on  the  knees  of  his  nurse. 

28th  week. — The  child  of  his  own  accord  p>laees 
himself  upright,  but  only  on  the  lap  of  his  mother, 
holding  on  to  her. 

35th  week. — The  child,  while  being  carried,  places 
himself  on  the  arm  and  the  hand  of  the  nurse,  and 
looks  over  her  shoulder. 

4-lst  week. — First  attempts  at  walking.  The  child 
was  held  under  the  arms  so  that  his  feet  touched  the 
floor.  Then  he  lifted  his  legs  alternately  and  stretched 
them  imperfectly,  in  alternation.  "What  induced  these 
movements  in  him  is  beyond  finding  out.  Sitting  and 
standing  without  support  are  impossible. 

l$d  week. — Whence  it  comes  that  the  child,  held 


276  THE   MIND   OF   THE   CHILD. 

under  the  arms,  his  feet  touching  the  floor,  sets  these 
to  moving  forward,  and  in  the  beginning  sidewise 
also,  now  more  regularly,  is  the  harder  to  comprehend, 
for  the  reason  that  there  is  no  pushing  from  behind, 
and  usually  nothing  is  before  the  child  that  he  would 
desire.  The  inclination  to  walk  is  very  great.  From 
this  time  on  the  child  sits  without  support. 

Jf3d  week. — Whereas  the  child  at  the  beginning  put 
his  feet  irregularly  over,  by,  and  before  each  other,  he 
now  lifts  the  foot  high  up  and  generally  puts  it  down 
firmly  on  the  floor  without  crossing  the  legs.  These 
remarkable  movements  occasion  him  the  greatest  pleas- 
ure. If  he  is  very  restless,  he  is  speedily  quieted  if  he 
is  placed  with  his  feet  on  the  floor  and  held  so.  He 
begins  then  at  once,  without  the  least  urging,  to  move 
himself  forward. 

4oth  to  lflih  weeks. — The  exercises  in  walking,  prac- 
ticed almost  daily,  were  at  this  period  entirely  omitted, 
in  order  to  ascertain  whether  that  which  had  been  hith- 
erto attained  would  be  forgotten. 

At  the  end  of  the  forty-seventh  week,  however,  the 
child  when  held  up  places  his  feet  remarkably  correctly, 
and  seldom  over  each  other;  but  the  needed  estimate 
of  the  amount  of  muscular  force  to  be  employed  is  still 
lacking,  for  he  often  lifts  the  foot  too  high,  and  puts  it 
down  too  hard. 

48th  week. — The  child  often  stands  now  a  moment 
without  support  and  stamps  with  his  foot.  He  takes 
hold  of  a  chair  and  pushes  it  forward  somewhat,  with 
only  the  slightest  support. 

49th  week. — If  the  child  is  left  to  himself  on  a  soft 
blanket,  surrounded  with  pillows,  he  can  not  raise  him- 


INSTINCTIVE   MOVEMENTS.  277 

self  without  help,  and  he  can  not  stand  more  than  an 
instant  without  help. 

50  th  week. — The  child  can  not  yet  of  himself  place 
himself  upon  his  feet,  when  he  is  sitting  or  lying,  nor 
can  he  walk  without  help. 

53d  iceek. — The  child  can  creep,  or  rather  drag 
himself  along  somewhat,  but  can  not  walk  alone. 

5Jf,th  week. — He  can  walk  when  held  by  one  hand. 
When  creeping  on  the  carpet,  he  moves  but  little  and 
slowly  from  his  place,  and  this  with  asymmetrical 
movements  and  stretchings  of  arms  and  legs. 

57th  week. — He  hitches  along  hither  and  thither 
quite  nimbly  on  hands  and  knees,  but  walking  without 
being  led  (by  one  hand)  is  quite  impossible. 

60th  week. — The  child  can  raise  himself  alone  from 
the  floor  by  a  chair,  first  to  his  knees  and  then  to  his 
feet.  But  he  can  stand  all  alone  only  a  few  moments ; 
always  clings  tightly  when  he  is  put  down. 

62d  week. — The  child  is  still  unable  to  stand  longer 
than  a  moment  without  being  supported,  or  at  least 
touched.  This  inability  depends  no  longer  on  the  dif- 
ficulty of  maintaining  the  equilibrium,  but  on  the  lack 
of  confidence  in  himself,  for  the  only  time  when  he  is 
still  unable  to  stand  is  when  he  knows  he  is  not  held. 
But  when,  without  his  knowledge,  I  have  withdrawn 
from  his  back  the  support  of  my  hand,  having  grad- 
ually reduced  the  pressure,  then  he  stands  for  several 
seconds  upright,  and  without  support.  Just  so  in 
the— 

63d  iceek. — The  child  still  walks  only  when  he  can 
hold  on  with  both  hands  (on  the  sides,  fifty-five  centi- 
metres high,  of  a  rectangular  wooden  structure  of  one 
LO 


278  THE   MIND   OF   THE   CHILD. 

and  a  quarter  metres  length  on  the  side,  made  by  me 
on  purpose  for  my  child  in  1878,  and  cushioned). 

64-th  week. — When  the  child  is  led  by  one  of  his 
arms,  so  loosely  that  the  arm  is  as  if  put  through  a 
loose  ring,  he  walks  properly  and  steadily ;  he  can 
therefore  walk  without  being  held ;  but  if  he  is  left 
entirely  free  from  one's  touch,  then  he  does  not  walk, 
but  falls  or  stumbles  into  the  arms  of  the  person  sitting 
or  standing  before  him.  Co-ordinating  ability  is  not 
lacking,  therefore,  but  self-confidence ;  whereas  the  in- 
ability to  speak  depends  on  lack  of  co-ordinating  power. 
By  altogether  too  frequent  support,  by  too  much  telling 
how  and  showing  how,  by  training,  independent  devel- 
opment is  hindered  and  self-confidence  is  smothered  in 
its  origin. 

65th  week.— The  child  can  not  yet  walk  alone,  in- 
deed ;  but  when  he  clasps  only  one  guiding  linger  with 
his  thumb  and  finger,  he  strides  swiftly  and  securely 
forward.  He  raises  himself,  if  he  is  laid  down,  first  to 
the  knees,  and  while  he  holds  fast  to  something  he 
stands  vp,  but  can  not  stand  up  without  holding  on. 

66th  week. — Suddenly — on  the  four  hundred  and 
fifty-seventh  day  of  his  life — the  child  can  run  alone. 
The  day  before,  he  was  entirely  unable  to  take  three 
steps  alone — he  had  to  be  led  if  only  by  means  of  a 
stick,  perhaps  a  lead-pencil.  Now,  he  ran  alone  around 
a  large  table,  unsteadily  indeed,  and  staggering  and  not 
holding  his  head  in  a  stable  position,  but  without  falling. 
On  the  following  day  the  little  traveler  is  manifestly 
pleased  at  his  new  accomplishment,  runs  staggering,  at 
random,  with  arms  now  hanging  down,  now  lifted  as  if 
he  wanted  to  hold  on,  now   mute,  again  crying  out, 


INSTINCTIVE   MOVEMENTS.  279 

"  Hey  !  hey-ey ! "  (this  he  continued  to  do  for  months), 
and  laughing.  He  likes  to  hold  on  by  the  furniture. 
On  the  day  following,  the  child  frequently  stops  during 
his  hasty  walking,  and  stamps,  changing  position  from 
one  foot  to  the  other  without  any  help.  On  the  four 
hundred  and  sixty-iirst  day  he  can  walk  backward  also  if 
he  is  led,  and  without  leading  can  turn  round  quickly 
and  cleverly.  In  walking  he  strikes  about  him  at  ran- 
dom with  his  arms.  At  the  end  of  this  week  he  can, 
during  his  walking,  already  direct  his  attention  to 
other  things,  move  his  hands  hither  and  thither  for 
pleasure,  hold  objects  and  look  at  them  during  the  slow 
walking,  which  has  just  been  learned. 

67th  week. — Although  a  fall  appears  inevitable  fre- 
quently in  his  walking  alone,  yet  it  rarely  occurs — in  the 
first  five  days  of  walking  scarcely  more  than  three  times. 
In  falling  forward,  both  arms  are  now  stretched 
straight  out,  which  must  be  instinctive,  as  a  falling  per- 
son has  not  yet  been  seen  by  the  child.  In  falling 
backward  there  is  no  protective  movement.  Whether 
the  arms  were  extended  at  the  first  fall  I  have  not 
been  able  to  settle. 

68th  week. — The  act  of  walking  no  longer  requires 
so  great  attention  as  at  the  beginning.  During  his  ad- 
vance his  look  is  already  turned  sidewise ;  and  he  even 
chews,  swallows,  laughs,  and  calls  out.  Walking  is  al- 
ready becoming  mechanical. 

70th  week. — The  child  raises  himself  from  the  floor 
alone — i.  e.,  he  stands  up  himself. 

71st  week. — Now  first  can  a  threshold — only  an 
inch  high,  at  the  door  between  two  rooms — be  stepped 
over  without  help  (not  yet  invariably,  in   the   seven- 


280  THE   MIND   OF   THE   CHILD. 

tieth  week,  the  child  holding  by  the  wall  and  the  door- 
post). If  he  is  sitting,  he  can  now  stand  up  without 
help. 

77th  week. — One  day  the  child  ran,  without  inter- 
vals of  more  than  five  seconds,  nineteen  times  around  a 
large  table,  calling  out  meantime,  "  Mamma !  "  and 
"  Bwa,  bwa,  bwa ! "     Great  liking  for  running. 

78th  week. — If  he  is  holding  something  in  his  hands, 
then  he  walks  over  the  threshold  an  inch  high  without 
holding  on  by  anything. 

85th  week. — The  thresholds  are  stepped  over  quick- 
ly without  hesitation.  In  running  he  inclines  forward, 
as  if,  at  every  step,  falling  were  consciously  prevented 
by  carrying  forward  the  center  of  gravity. 

89th  week. — Running  is  still  somewhat  awkward — 
with  asymmetrical  movements  of  the  arms — so  that  it 
looks  as  if  the  child  must  fall.     But  a  fall  is  very  rare. 

In  the  twenty- fourth  month  the  child  turns  of  him- 
self, dancing  in  time  to  music ;  also  beats  the  time  with 
tolerable  correctness,  when  he  hears  a  hand-organ  or  a 
bag-pipe. 

In  the  twenty-eighth  month  he  first  learned  to  "  go 
on  all -fours" — that  is,  on  hands  and  feet  (playing 
"bear").  Before  this  he  had  (in  creeping)  dragged 
himself  along  on  hands  and  knees,  never  on  hands 
and  feet.  In  this  period  came  the  first  exercises  in 
jimiping,  which  were  continued  to  the  point  of  ex- 
haustion. In  this  month,  too,  and  in  the  previous 
one,  begins  pleasure  in  climbing  (on  tables,  chairs, 
benches). 

In  the  thirtieth  month,  mounting  a  staircase  of 
twenty-five  steps  without  help — the  right  hand,  on  the 


INSTINCTIVE   MOVEMENTS.  281 

balustrade,  rather  directing  than  holding.  After  ten 
days  the  same,  with  both  hands  free  in  the  air. 

In  the  thirty- fourth  month,  the  first  gymnastic  exer- 
cises, which,  like  climbing  and  jumping,  afford  extraor- 
dinary pleasure.  Also  the  throwing  of  any  kind  of 
objects  (out  of  a  window) ;  the  hurling  of  stones  into 
the  air  or  into  a  pond ;  the  moving  or  setting  in  motion 
of  objects  within  reach  (on  the  table)  are  absolutely  origi- 
nal, and  must  consequently  be  traced  back  to  hereditary 
tendencies  to  produce  changes  in  movable  objects. 

On  the  whole,  it  appears  from  the  observations  con- 
cerning sitting,  standing,  creeping,  running,  walking, 
jumping,  climbing,  throwing,  which  are  rapidly  but 
unequally  developed  in  all  children  in  like  fashion, 
that  these  movements  are  predominantly  or  exclusively 
instinctive.  They  are  not  imparted  by  education.  If 
any  one  insists  on  saying  that  they  are  learned,  he  must 
admit  that  they  are  only  in  the  smallest  degree  learned 
by  imitation  ;  for  a  child  that  sees  no  one  drag  himself 
along,  jump,  climb,  or  throw,  will  without  fail  perform 
these  movements,  even  when  he  is  not  trained.  The 
progenitors  of  man  must  have  found  these  especially 
useful,  so  that  they  grew  to  be  fixed  habits  and  became 
hereditary.  At  the  same  time,  as  it  appears,  those  har- 
monious movements  remained  oftenest  in  use  which, 
like  those  of  the  muscles  of  the  eye  that  are  used 
in  seeing  (p.  35),  are  of  most  service  with  the  least 
strain. 


2S2  THE  MIND  OF  THE  CHILD. 

CHAPTER  XII. 

IMITATIVE   MOVEMENTS. 

To  determine  as  exactly  as  possible  the  date  of  the 
first  imitative  acts  is  of  especial  interest  in  regard  to  the 
genesis  of  mind,  because  even  the  most  insignificant  imi- 
tative movement  furnishes  a  sure  proof  of  activity  of  the 
cerebrum.  For,  in  order  to  imitate,  one  must  first  per- 
ceive through  the  senses ;  secondly,  have  an  idea  of 
what  has  been  perceived ;  thirdly,  execute  a  movement 
corresponding  to  this  idea.  Now,  this  threefold  central 
process  can  not  exist  without  a  cerebrum,  or  without 
certain  parts  of  the  cerebrum,  probably  the  cortical  sub- 
stance. Without  the  cerebral  cortex,  certain  percep- 
tions are  possible,  to  be  sure ;  many  movements  are 
possible,  but  not  the  generation  of  the  latter  out  of  the 
former.  However  often  imitation  has  the  appearance 
of  an  involuntary  movement,  yet  when  it  was  executed 
the  first  time,  it  must  have  been  executed  with  intention 
— i.  e.,  voluntarily.  When  a  child  imitates,  it  has  al- 
ready a  will.  But  the  oftener  a  voluntary  movement  is 
repeated,  always  in  the  same  way,  so  much  the  more  it 
approximates  reflex  movement.  Hence  many  imitative 
acts,  even  in  the  child,  occur  involuntarily  quite  early. 
But  the  first  ones  are  willed.  When  do  they  make 
their  appearance  ? 

If  we  make,  for  the  infant  to  see,  a  movement  that 
he  has  often  practiced  of  his  own  accord,  he  can  make 
a  successful  imitation  much  earlier  than  is  commonly 
supposed.     Such  a   movement,  which  I  employed  as 


IMITATIVE   MOVEMENTS.  283 

suitable  for  early  imitation,  is  the  pursing  of  the  mouth, 
the  protruding  of  the  closed  lips,  which  often  occurs, 
(even  in  adults)  along  with  a  great  strain  of  the  atten- 
tion. 

This  protruding  of  the  lips  occurred  with  my  child 
on  the  tenth  day  of  life  (in  the  bath,  when  a  burning 
candle  was  held  before  him  at  the  distance  of  a  metre) ; 
in  the  seventh  week  it  was  decidedly  marked  at  sight 
of  a  new  face  quite  near  him  ;  in  the  tenth  week,  at  the 
bending  and  stretching  of  his  legs  in  the  bath.  It  was 
as  if  the  letter  u  were  to  be  pronounced — and  yet  the 
child  was  wholly  unable  to  imitate  this  movement  so 
easily  made  by  him  (as  late  as  the  fourteenth  week) 
when  I  made  it  for  him  under  the  most  favorable  cir- 
cumstances. At  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  week  appeared 
for  the  first  time  the  beginnings  of  an  imitation,  the 
infant  making  attempts  to  purse  the  lips  when  I  did  it 
close  in  front  of  him.  That  this  was  a  case  of  imitative 
movement  is  shown  by  the  imperfect  character  of  it  in 
comparison  with  the  perfect  pursing  of  the  lips  when 
he  makes  the  movement  of  his  own  accord  in  some  other 
strain  of  the  attention.  Strangely  enough,  the  imitation 
was  attempted  on  the  one  hundred  and  fifth  day,  but 
not  in  the  following  days. 

Further  attempts  at  imitation  occurred  so  seldom 
and  were  so  imperfect,  notwithstanding  much  pains  on 
my  part  to  induce  them,  in  the  following  weeks,  that  I 
was  in  doubt  whether  they  might  not  be  the  result  of 
accidental  coincidences.  Not  till  the  seventh  month 
were  the  attempts  to  imitate  movements  of  the  head,  and 
the  pursing  of  the  lips  already  spoken  of,  so  striking 
that  I  could  no  longer  refer  them  to  accidental  coinci- 


284  THE  MIND  OF  THE  CHILD. 

dence.  In  particular  the  child  often  laughed  when  one 
laughed  to  hirn  (p.  145).  The  attention  is  now  more 
and  more  plainly  strained  when  new  movements  are 
made  for  the  infant  to  see — he  follows  these  with  evi- 
dent interest,  but  without  coming  to  the  point  of  an 
attempt  at  imitation  in  a  single  instance.  This  indo- 
lence was  the  more  surprising,  as  even  in  the  seven- 
teenth week  the  protruding  of  the  tip  of  the  tongue 
between  the  lips  (customary  with  many  adults  at  their 
work)  was  perfectly  imitated  once,  when  done  by  me 
before  the  child's  face,  and  the  child  in  fact  smiled  di- 
rectly at  this  strange  movement  which  seemed  to  please 
him.  Imitative  movements  thus  appear  in  the  fourth 
month,  which  in  the  seventh,  and  even  the  ninth,  do 
not  succeed  or  are  quite  imperfectly  achieved.  Yet  in  the 
tenth  month  correct  imitations  of  all  sorts  of  movements 
were  frequent,  and  it  is  certain  that  these  were  executed 
wTith  distinct  consciousness  ;  for,  when  he  is  imitating 
movements  of  hand  and  arm  frequently  repeated  before 
him — e.  g.,  beckoning  [in  the  general  sense  of  making 
a  sign]  and  saying — "  Tatta  " — the  child  looks  fixedly  at 
the  person  concerned,  and  then  often  suddenly  makes 
the  movement  quite  correctly. 

Beckoning  ( Wiriken)  is  in  general  one  of  the  move- 
ments of  the  infant  acquired  early  by  imitation.  In 
my  child  it  appeared  for  the  first  time  at  the  beginning 
of  the  tenth  month.  When  he  was  going  to  be  taken 
out,  his  mother  used  to  make  a  sign  to  him,  and  now  he 
likewise  made  a  sign,  almost  invariably,  in  the  doorway, 
with  one  arm,  frequently  with  both  arms,  yet  with  an 
expression  of  face  that  indicated  that  he  moved  the  arms 
or  arm  without  understanding,  upon  the  opening  of  the 


IMITATIVE    MOVEMENTS.  285 

door.  The  proof  of  this  lies  in  the  fact,  that  when  I 
enter  the  room,  the  child,  so  long  as  the  door  is  in 
motion,  makes  that  movement  which  he  at  first  only 
imitated,  and  does  it  regularly — no  hint  of  leave-taking 
in  it  therefore.  The  beckoning  movement  is  made  also 
at  other  times — e.  g.,  on  the  opening  and  shutting  of  a 
large  cupboard;  it  has,  therefore,  completely  lost  its 
purely  imitative  character.  The  movement  consists  es- 
sentially of  a  rapid  raising  and  dropping  of  the  ex- 
tended arm  ;  it  is  not,  therefore,  genuine  beckoning. 
Not  till  after  some  weeks  were  motions  of  the  hand 
added,  and  this  more  skillful  imitation  made  it  seem  as 
if  the  machine-like  movements  that  were  made  at  the 
opening  of  the  door  were  less  and  less  involuntary, 
were  more  and  more  intentionally  performed  as  genuine 
signs  of  leave-taking.  But  at  this  period  (tenth  month) 
such  an  action  is  not  yet  admissible ;  for  when  I  make 
the  same  beckoning  movement  for  the  child  without 
opening  the  door,  he  repeats  it  often  in  a  purely  imi- 
tative fashion  without  deliberation,  though,  to  be  sure, 
the  eye  has  an  expression  of  great  strain  of  attention, 
on  account  of  the  difficulty  of  comprehending  so  quick 
a  movement. 

Not  every  imitative  movement  can  be  so  clearly 
perceived  to  be  willed  as  can  this  one.  "When  one 
enters  a  room  in  which  there  are  a  good  many  infants, 
all  quiet,  one  can  easily  observe  the  contagious  influence 
of  crying.  For,  if  only  one  child  begins  to  cry,  then 
very  soon  several  are  crying,  then  many,  often  all  of 
them.  So,  too,  when  one  single  infant  (in  the  ninth 
month)  hears  other  children  cry,  he  likewise,  in  very 
many  cases,  begins  to  cry.    The  older  the  child  becomes, 


286  THE   MIND   OF   THE   CHILD. 

the  more  seldom  appears  this  kind  of  undesirable  imi- 
tation ;  but  even  in  children  four  years  old,  quite  aim- 
less imitative  movements  may  often  be  perceived  (as  in 
mesmeric  patients)  if  the  children  are  observed  without 
their  knowledge.  For  example,  they  suddenly  hold  the 
arms  crossed,  as  a  stranger  present  is  doing,  and  bow  as 
he  does  at  leaving. 

A  little  girl  in  the  last  quarter  of  her  first  year  imi- 
tated, in  the  drollest  fashion,  what  she  herself  experi- 
enced in  her  treatment  by  the  nurse,  giving  her  doll  a 
bath,  punishing  it,  kissing  it,  singing  it  to  sleep ;  and 
before  the  end  of  the  first  year  she  imitated  the  barking 
of  the  dog  and  the  bleating  of  the  sheep  (Frau  Dr. 
Friedemann). 

Another  female  child  imitated  the  following  move- 
ments in  a  recognizable  manner :  in  the  eleventh  month 
she  threatened  with  the  forefinger  if  any  one  did  so  to 
her,  used  a  brush  after  she  had  seen  brushes  and  combs, 
used  a  spoon  properly,  and  drank  from  a  cup,  and  made 
a  kind  of  cradling  movement  with  her  doll,  singing, 
"Eia — eia."  In  the  thirteenth  month  the  child  made 
the  motion  of  sewing,  of  writing  (moistening  the  point 
of  the  pencil  in  her  mouth)  and  of  folding  the  arms. 
In  the  fifteenth  month  she  fed  the  doll  as  she  was  fed 
herself,  imitated  shaving,  on  her  own  chin,  and  reading 
aloud,  moving  her  finger  along  the  lines  and  modulat- 
ing her  voice.  In  the  eighteenth  month  she  imitated 
singing,  and  made  the  motion  of  turning  a  crank  like  a 
hurdy  -  gurdy  player  when  she  heard  music ;  in  the 
nineteenth  she  went  on  hands  and  feet,  crying  "  Au, 
au ! "  (ow,  Ow),  in  imitation  of  a  dog ;  in  the  twentieth 
she  imitated  smoking,  holding  a  cane  firmly  with  her 


IMITATIVE    MOVEMENTS.  287 

fingers  exactly  as  is  done  in  smoking  a  pipe.  Her  younger 
sister,  in  her  fifteenth  month,  first  imitated  the  movement 
of  sewing  and  of  writing ;  while  the  elder,  in  the  nine- 
teenth month,  after  repeated  attempts  at  imitation,  sewed 
together  two  pieces  of  cloth,  without  instruction,  draw- 
ing the  needle  through  correctly  (Fran  von  Striimpell). 
Toward  the  end  of  the  first  year  of  life  the  voluntary 
imitative  movements,  more  numerous  than  before,  are  ex- 
ecuted much  more  skillfully  and  more  quickly.  But  when 
they  require  complex  co-ordination  they  easily  fail.  IV  hen 
(at  the  beginning  of  the  twelfth  month)  any  one  struck 
several  times  with  a  salt-spoon  on  a  tumbler  so  that  it 
resounded,  my  child  took  the  spoon,  looked  at  it  steadily, 
and  then  likewise  tried  to  strike  on  the  glass  with  it, 
but  he  could  not  make  it  ring.  In  such  imitations, 
which  are  entirely  new,  and  on  that  account  make  a 
deeper  impression,  as  in  the  case  of  puffing  {Pusten)  it 
would  happen  that  they  were  repeated  by  the  child  in 
his  dreams,  without  interruption  of  his  sleep  (twelfth 
month),  a  proof  that  the  experiences  of  the  day,  however 
unimportant  they  appear  to  the  adult,  have  stamped  them- 
selves firmly  upon  the  impressionable  brain  of  the  child. 
But  it  takes  always  some  seconds  before  a  new  or  partly 
new  movement,  however  simple,  is  imitated,  when  it  is 
made  for  the  child  to  imitate — e.  g.,  it  was  a  habit  of 
my  child  (in  the  fourteenth  month)  to  move  both  arms 
symmetrically  hither  and  thither,  saying,  "  ay — e,  ay — ■ 
e  "  (altogether  differently,  much  more  persistently  and 
rapidly,  than  when  beckoning).  If  some  one  made 
this  very  swinging  of  the  arms  for  the  child  to  observe, 
with  the  same  sound,  there  was  always  an  interval  of 
several  seconds  before  the  child  could  execute  the  move- 


288  THE   MIND   OF   THE    CHILD. 

ment  in  like  fashion.  The  simplest  mental  processes  of 
all,  therefore,  need  much  more  time  than  they  do  later. 
But  imitations  of  this  kind  are  almost  always  performed 
more  quickly  when  they  are  not  sought,  when  the 
child-brain  is  not  obliged  first  to  get  its  bearings,  but 
acts  spontaneously.  If  I  clear  my  throat,  or  cough 
purposely,  without  looking  at  the  child,  he  often  gives 
a  little  cough  likewise  in  a  comical  manner.  If  I  ask, 
"  Did  the  child  cough  1 "  or  if  I  ask  him,  "  Can  you 
cough  ? "  he  coughs,  but  generally  copying  less  accurately 
(in  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  months).  The  bow  too 
tightly  strained  shoots  beyond  the  mark. 

Here,  besides  pure  imitation,  there  is  already  under- 
standing of  the  name  of  the  imitated  movement  with 
the  peculiar  noise. 

This  important  step  in  knowledge  once  taken,  the 
movements  imitated  become  more  and  more  complicated, 
and  are  more  and  more  connected  with  objects  of  daily 
experience.  In  the  fifteenth  month  the  child  learns  to 
blow  out  a  candle.  He  puffs  from  six  to  ten  times  in 
vain,  and  grasps  at  the  flame  meantime,  laughs  when  it 
is  extinguished,  and  exerts  himself,  after  it  has  been 
lighted,  in  blowing  or  breathing,  with  cheeks  puffed  out 
and  lips  protruded  to  an  unnecessary  degree,  because 
he  does  not  imitate  accurately.  For  it  can  hardly  be 
that  a  child  that  has  never  seen  how  a  candle  can  be 
blown  out  would  hit  upon  the  notion  of  blowing  it  out. 
Understanding  and  experience  are  not  yet  sufficient  to 
make  this  discovery. 

I  find,  in  general,  that  the  movements  made  for 
imitation  are  the  more  easily  imitated  correctly  the  less 
complicated  they  are.     When  I  opened  and  shut  my 


IMITATIVE    MOVEMENTS.  289 

Land  alternately,  merely  for  the  purpose  of  amusing  the 
child,  he  suddenly  began  to  open  and  shut  his  right  hand 
likewise  in  quite  similar  fashion.  The  resemblance  of 
his  movement  to  mine  was  extremely  surprising  in  com- 
parison with  the  awkward  blowing  out  of  the  candle  in 
the  previous  instance.  It  is  occasioned  by  the  greater 
simplicity.  Yet,  simple  as  the  bending  of  the  finger 
seems,  it  requires,  nevertheless,  so  many  harmonious 
impulses,  nerve-excitements,  and  contractions  of  mus- 
cular fibers,  that  the  imitation  of  simple  movements 
even  can  hardly  be  understood  without  taking  into 
account  the  element  of  heredity,  since  unusual  move- 
ments, never  performed,  it  may  be,  by  ancestors — 
say,  standing  on  the  head — are  never,  under  any  cir- 
cumstances, imitated  correctly  at  the  first  attempt.  The 
opening  and  shutting  of  the  hand  is  just  one  of  the 
movements  by  no  means  unusual,  but  often  performed 
by  ancestors.  Still,  it  is  to  be  noticed  that  at  the  be- 
ginning the  imitation  proceeded  very  slowly,  although 
correctly.  On  the  very  next  day  it  was  much  more 
rapid  on  the  repetition  of  the  attempt,  and  the  child, 
surprised  by  the  novelty  of  the  experience,  now  observed 
attentively  first  my  hand  and  then  his  own  (fifteenth 
month). 

Of  the  numerous  more  complicated  movements  of 
the  succeeding  period,  the  following,  also,  may  be  men- 
tioned, in  order  to  show  the  rapid  progress  in  utilizing 
a  new  retinal  image  for  the  execution  of  an  act  corre- 
sponding to  it :  A  large  ring,  wdiich  I  slowly  put  on  my 
head  and  took  away  again,  was  seized  by  the  child,  and 
put  by  him  in  the  same  way  on  his  own  head  without 
fumbling  (sixteenth  month).     But,  when  it  is  a  case  of 


290  THE    MIX!)   OF   THE   CHILD. 

combination  of  a  definite  action  of  the  muscles  of  the 
mouth  with  expiration  of  the  breath,  innumerable  fruit- 
less efforts  at  imitation  are  made  before  one  of  them 
succeeds,  because,  in  this  case,  a  part  only  of  the  working 
of  the  complicated  muscular  action  can  be  perceived, 
while  the  rest  must  be  found  out  by  trial.  Thus,  the 
child  could  not,  in  spite  of  many  attempts,  get  any  tone 
out  of  a  small  hunting-horn.  He  put  it  to  his  mouth, 
and  tried  to  imitate  the  tone  with  his  own  voice.  Sud- 
denly the  right  manner  of  blowing  was  hit  upon  acci- 
dentally, and  from  that  time  was  never  forgotten  (eight- 
eenth month). 

After  the  child  had  seen  how  his  mother  combed 
her  long  dark  hair  before  a  glass,  he  took  a  hand-mirror 
and  a  comb  and  moved  the  comb  around  on  his  head, 
combing  where  there  was  no  hair.  So,  too,  he  would 
now  and  then  seize  a  brush  and  try  to  brush  his  head 
and  his  dress,  but  took  special  pleasure  in  brushing  also 
all  kinds  of  furniture.  More  than  once  he  actually  took 
a  shawl,  held  it  by  a  corner  to  his  shoulder,  and  drew  it 
behind  him  like  a  train,  frequently  turning  around  while 
doing  this.  He  also  put  a  collar  round  his  neck ;  he 
tried  to  dry  himself  with  a  towel,  but  without  success ; 
whereas  the  washing  of  the  hands  with  soap,  without 
direction,  was  imitated,  though  not  with  much  skill,  yet 
tolerably  well;  none  but  very  complicated  imitative 
actions  these,  and  all  of  them,  in  the  case  of  my  boy, 
belong  to  the  third  quarter  of  the  second  year — an  ex- 
ceptionally important  period  in  mental  genesis — the 
same  is  true  of  seizing,  holding  tilings  before  him,  and 
(what  was  observed  by  Lindner  in  the  sixth  month)  the 
imitation  of  reading  aloud  from  a  newspaper  or  pam- 


IMITATIVE   MOVEMENTS.  291 

phlct,  the  feeding  of  deer — holding  out  a  single  spear  of 
grass  to  them — scraping  the  feet  upon  entering  the 
house  (as  if  the  shoes  were  to  be  cleaned). 

But  how  little  real  imitation  and  understanding  of 
the  act  itself  there  was,  even  in  this  period  of  perfect 
external  imitations,  appears  from  the  circumstance  that 
a  map  is  held,  as  a  newspaper,  "  to  be  read  aloud,"  before 
the  face,  and  upside  down.  Now,  too,  the  child  likes 
to  take  a  pencil,  puts  the  point  in  his  mouth,  and  then 
makes  all  sorts  of  marks  on  a  sheet  of  paper,  as  if  he 
could  draw. 

Just  as  remarkable  is  the  lively  interest  in  every- 
thing that  goes  on  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  child.  In 
packing  and  unpacking,  setting  the  table,  lighting  the 
fire,  lifting  and  moving  furniture,  he  tries  to  help. 
His  imitative  impulse  seems  here  almost  like  ambition 
(twenty-third  month). 

Toward  the  end  of  the  second  year  various  ceremoni- 
ous movements,  especially  those  of  salutation,  are  also 
imitated.  The  child  sees  how  an  older  boy  takes  off  his 
hat  in  salutation ;  immediately  he  takes  off  his  own  head- 
covering  and  puts  it  on  again,  like  the  other  boy. 

All  these  movements  last  enumerated  are  distin- 
guished from  the  earlier  ones  by  this,  that  they  were 
executed  or  attempted  by  the  boy  unsolicited,  without 
the  least  inducement  or  urging,  entirely  of  his  own  mo- 
tion. 

They  show,  on  the  one  hand,  how  powerful  the 
imitative  impulse  has  become  (in  the  second  year) ;  on 
the  other  hand,  how  important  this  impulse  must  be 
for  the  further  mental  development.  For,  if  the  child 
at  this  age  passes  the  greater  part  of  his  time  in  com- 


292  THE   MIND   OF   THE   CHILD. 

pany  inattentive  to  manners,  or  unrefined,  then  lie  will 
imitate  all  sorts  of  things  injurious  to  him,  and  will 
easily  acquire  habits  that  hinder  his  further  develop- 
ment. It  is,  therefore,  of  the  greatest  importance,  even 
at  this  early  period,  to  prevent  the  intercourse  of  chil- 
dren with  strangers,  and  to  avoid  everything  that  might 
open  wrong  paths  to  the  imitative  impulse. 

The  imitative  movements  of  the  muscles  of  speech, 
the  child's  imitations  of  sounds,  syllables,  and  words  are 
treated  of  in  detail  in  the  third  part  of  this  work.  The 
first  answer  of  the  infant  to  the  language  addressed  to 
him  by  his  relatives,  which  is  said  to  be  made,  in  indi- 
vidual cases,  as  early  as  the  eighth  and  ninth  weeks 
(according  to  Sully,  1882),  is  no  attempt  at  imitation, 
but  a  directly  reflexive  movement,  like  screaming  after 
a  blow,  etc.  Singing  has  already  been  mentioned  as  one 
of  the  earliest  imitated  performances.  It  is  true  of 
these,  as  of  all  later  imitations,  that  the  first  imitation 
of  every  new  movement  is  voluntary  on  the  part  of  the 
child,  and,  in  case  an  involuntary  imitation  seems  to 
occur,  then  either  this  has  already  been  often  repeated 
as  such,  or  it  is  a  movement  often  practiced  without 
imitation.  The  accuracy  of  the  imitation  depends  little, 
however,  upon  the  co-operation  of  a  deliberative  cere- 
bral activity.  On  the  contrary,  children  of  inferior 
mental  endowment  among  those  born  deaf  sometimes 
possess  (according  to  Gude)  a  purer  and  more  distinct 
enunciation  than  those  more  gifted. 


EXPRESSIVE   MOVEMENTS.  293 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

EXPEESSIVE   MOVEMENTS. 

Expressions  of  countenance  and  gestures  arise 
chiefly,  as  is  well  known,  from  imitation.  Not  only- 
persons  born  blind,  but  also  those  who  become  blind  at 
an  advanced  age,  are  distinguished  from  those  who  have 
sight  by  their  lack  of  the  play  of  feature.  Their  ex- 
pression of  countenance  shows  only  slight  changes  ;  their 
physiognomy  appears  fixed,  uniform ;  the  muscles  of 
the  face  move  but  little  when  they  are  not  eating  or 
speaking.  Little  children  also  lack  a  characteristic  play 
of  feature,  hence  the  difficulty  of  making  portraits  of 
them,  or  even  of  describing  them.  Different  as  is  the 
contented  face  from  the  discontented,  even  on  the  first 
day,  different  as  is  the  intelligent  face  from  the  stupid, 
the  attentive  from  the  inattentive,  the  difference  can 
not  be  completely  described.  In  the  second  half  of  the 
first  year  children  act  after  the  example  of  the  members 
of  the  family.  Speak  gravely  to  a  gay  child  of  a  year 
old,  and  it  becomes  grave ;  if  it  is  sober,  and  you  show 
a  friendly  face,  the  child  in  many  cases  brightens  up  in 
an  instant.  Yet  it  would  be  premature  to  conclude 
from  this  that  all  the  means  of  expression  by  the  coun- 
tenance are  acquired  solely  through  imitation.  Some 
mimetic  movements,  of  which  we  have  already  spoken, 
are  of  reflex  origin.  The  same  is  true  of  gestures. 
Others  may  be  instinctive. 

As  every  gesture  is  wont  to  appear  in  association 
with  the  expression  of  countenance  appropriate  to  it, 
when  it  has  a  language  value,  it  seems  advisable  to  treat 
21 


294  THE   J1IXD   OF   THE   CHILD. 

together  expressions  and  gestures  which  together  form 
pantomime,  and  to  separate  the  purely  expressive  mus- 
cular movements  of  the  infant  from  its  other  move- 
ments, in  our  attempt  to  trace  their  origin. 

So  long  as  the  child  can  not  jet  speak  words  and 
sentences,  it  effects  an  understanding  with  other  children 
and  with  adults  by  the  same  means  that  are  employed 
by  the  higher  animals  for  mutual  understanding,  by 
demonstrative  movements  and  attitudes,  by  sounds  ex- 
pressive of  emotion  or  feeling,  of  complaining,  exulta- 
tion, alluring,  repelling,  or  desiring,  and  by  dumb  looks. 
These  very  means  of  expression  are  employed  by  the 
child  when  it  entertains  itself  in  play  with  inauimate 
objects. 

Of  the  expressive  movements  of  the  child  I  have 
especially  considered,  as  to  their  origin,  smiling  and 
laughing,  pouting  and  kissing,  crying  and  wrinkling  of 
the  forehead,  shaking  the  head  and  nodding,  shrugging 
the  shoulders,  and  begging  with  the  hands,  as  well  as 
pointing. 

1.  The  First  Smiling  and  Laughing. 

The  first  smiling  is  the  movement  most  often  mis- 
understood. Every  opening  of  the  mouth  wdiatever, 
capable  of  being  interpreted  as  a  smile,  is  wont  to  be 
gladly  called  a  smile  even  in  the  youngest  child.  But 
it  is  no  more  the  case  with  the  child  than  with  the 
adult  that  a  mere  contortion  of  the  mouth  fulfills  the 
idea  of  a  smile.  There  is  required  for  this  either  a  feel- 
ing of  satisfaction  or  an  idea  of  an  agreeable  sort.  Both 
must  be  strong  enough  to  occasion  an  excitement  of  the 
facial  nerves.  A  smile  can  not  be  produced  by  a  mere 
sensation,  but  only  by  the  state  of  feeling  that  springs 


EXPRESSIVE   MOVEMENTS.  295 

from  it,  or  by  the  agreeable  idea  developed  from  it, 
however  vague  it  may  yet  be. 

Now,  as  has  been  shown  already,  the  number  of 
sensations  associated  with  a  pleasurable  feeling  in  the 
first  days  of  life  is  very  small,  and  an  idea,  in  the  proper 
sense  of  the  word,  the  new-born  child  unquestionably 
can  not  have  as  yet,  because  he  does  not  yet  perceive. 
The  child  that  is  satisfied  with  nursing  at  its  mother's 
breast,  or  with  the  warmth  of  the  bath,  does  not  smile 
in  the  first  days  of  life,  but  only  shows  an  expression 
of  satisfaction,  because  for  the  moment  all  unpleasant 
feelings  are  absent.  But  how  easily  such  a  condition 
of  comfort  manifests  itself  by  a  very  slight  lifting  of 
the  corner  of  the  mouth,  is  wTell  known.  If  we  choose 
to  call  this  a  smile,  then  even  sleeping  babes  smile  very 
early.  On  the  tenth  day  of  his  life  I  saw  my  child, 
while  he  was  asleep,  after  having  just  nursed  his  fill, 
put  his  mouth  exactly  into  the  form  of  smiling.  The 
dimples  in  the  cheeks  became  distinct,  and  the  expression 
of  countenance  was,  in  spite  of  the  closed  eyes,  strik- 
ingly lovely.  The  phenomenon  occurred  several  times. 
On  the  twelfth  day  appeared,  along  with  the  animated 
movements  of  the  facial  muscles,  a  play  of  features  in 
the  waking  condition,  also,  that  one  might  take  for  a 
smile.  But  this  play  of  the  muscles  of  the  mouth  lacked 
the  consciousness  that  is  required  to  complete  the  smile, 
as  does  the  smile  of  the  sleeping  child.  On  the  twenty- 
sixth  day,  first,  when  the  child  could  better  discriminate 
between  his  sensations  and  the  feelings  generated  by 
them,  did  the  smile  become  a  mimetic  expression.  The 
babe  had  taken  his  milk  in  abundant  quantity,  and  was 
lying  with  his  eyes  now  open  and  now  half-closed,  and 


296  THE  MIND  OF  THE  CHILD. 

with  an  indescribable  expression  of  contentment  on  his 
countenance.  Then  he  smiled,  opening  his  eyes,  and 
directed  his  look  to  the  friendly  face  of  his  mother,  and 
made  some  sounds  not  before  heard,  which  were  appro- 
priate to  his  happy  mood.  But  the  idea  had  not  yet 
arisen  of  the  connection  of  the  mother's  face  with  the 
mother's  breast,  the  source  of  enjoyment  (p.  46).  Nor 
can  we  at  this  period  assume  an  imitation,  by  the 
child,  of  the  smile  of  the  mother,  because  at  first  in- 
animate objects  (tassels)  are  smiled  at,  and  before  the 
fourth  month  no  imitative  movements  at  all  were  at- 
tempted. 

Not  only  the  first-mentioned  very  early  movements 
of  smiling,  but  also  this  perfect  smile  is  connected  with 
a  condition  of  contentment,  and  there  is  no  reason  to 
regard  it  as  less  hereditary  in  character  than  is  scream- 
ing with  pain,  which  no  one  would  refer  to  imitation. 

Later  the  child  smiles  when  he  is  smiled  at,  but  not 
always  by  any  means.  Strangers  may  smile  at  him 
in  ever  so  friendly  a  manner,  yet  the  wondering  little 
face,  usually  merry,  now  sober,  remains  immobile.  The 
first  imitations  of  the  smile  in  children  are  not  so  free 
from  deliberation  as  the  smiles  of  many  adults,  which 
through  training  and  the  conventional  forms  of  greeting 
have  degenerated  into  mere  formality. 

The  original  smile  of  satisfaction  at  new,  agreeable 
feelings,  a  smile  which  may  continue  even  in  sleep,  and 
which  appears  only  in  a  cheerful  frame  of  mind,  remains 
in  force  still  later.  By  an  unusual  expression  of  in- 
tensity in  the  more  brightly  gleaming  eye,  as  well  as  by 
lively  movements  of  the  arms  and  legs,  most  plainly  by 
laughing  and  smiling,  the  infant  manifests  his  satisfac- 


EXPRESSIVE    MOVEMENTS.  297 

tion — e.  g.,  in  music  (in  the  eighth  week) — without  any 
one's  giving  him  in  any  other  way  the  least  occasion 
for  it. 

The  date  of  the  first  smile  varies  very  much,  there- 
fore, according  as  we  take  for  a  smile  a  spontaneous  ex- 
pression of  pleasure,  or  the  communication  of  an  agree- 
able condition,  or  the  satisfaction  at  a  pleasing  idea  ;  here 
belongs  the  first  imitated  smile,  and  the  statements  that 
the  first  smile  appears  in  well-developed  children  about 
the  fourth  week,  as  the  expression  of  pleasure  (Hey- 
felder),  in  the  sixth  to  the  eighth  week  (Champneys),  in 
the  seventh  and  ninth  week  (Darwin),  or  that  in  the 
seventh  to  the  tenth  week  (Sigismund)  the  babe  smiles 
for  the  first  time,  are  as  indefinite  as  the  statement  that, 
at  the  end  of  the  second  week,  his  mouth  takes  on  a 
lovely  expression  like  a  smile.  It  depends  essentially 
on  the  nature  of  the  occasion  of  the  smile  at  what  date 
the  first  smile  shall  be  fixed. 

One  child  first  smiles  at  its  image  in  the  glass  in  the 
twenty-seventh  week ;  another,  in  the  tenth  (see  below)  ; 
the  one  observed  by  myself,  in  regard  to  this  point,  in 
the  seventeenth  week,  and  not  at  all  till  that  time.  It 
was  rather  a  laugh  than  a  smile  that  surprised  me  on 
the  one  hundred  and  sixteenth  day,  whereas  even  on  the 
one  hundred  and  thirteenth  the  image  in  the  mirror 
was  regarded  with  a  fixed  and  attentive  look,  to  be  sure, 
but  without  any  sign  of  satisfaction.  In  these  cases  it 
is  simply  the  joy  at  the  distinct,  new  perception — an 
idea,  therefore,  that  occasions  the  smile ;  in  other  cases 
it  is  pleasure  in  impressions  of  agreeable  tastes,  of  soft- 
ness or  warmth,  or  joy  in  pleasing  sound,  or  simply  the 
feeling  of  satiety  (fourteenth  week),  and  then  it  is  usu- 


298  TIIE   MIND   OF   THE   CHILD. 

ally  accompanied  by  a  peculiar  sound,  which  is  always 
much  softer  in  the  first  months  than  the  expressions  of 
displeasure.  But,  when  the  quite  young  child  does  not 
feel  well,  or  is  hungry,  it  can  not  smile  any  more.  The 
surest  sign  of  convalescence  is  the  reappearance  of  this 
significant  movement  of  the  mouth. 

From  the  smile  to  the  laugh  is  but  a  step,  and  the 
laugh  is  often  only  a  strengthened  and  audible  smile. 
The  first  laugh  upon  a  joyous  sense-impression  is,  how- 
ever, essentially  different  from  that  which  springs  from 
the  heightened  self -consciousness  at  the  perception  of 
the  ludicrous ;  and  the  limit  of  time  given  for  that,  of 
six  to  seventeen  weeks,  is  surprisingly  late.  Pliny 
thinks  no  child  laughs  before  the  fortieth  day.  I  ob- 
served an  audible  an'd  visible  laugh,  accompanied  by  a 
brighter  gleam  of  the  eye,  in  my  child,  for  the  first 
time,  on  the  twenty-third  day  (p.  32).  He  was  pleased 
with  a  bright,  rose-colored  curtain  that  was  hanging 
above  him,  and  he  made  peculiar  sounds  of  satisfaction, 
so  that  I  was  first  led  by  these  to  pay  attention  to  him. 
The  corners  of  his  mouth  were  drawn  somewhat  up- 
ward. At  this  period  no  laugh  yet  appeared  when  the 
child  was  in  the  bath,  but  there  also  the  expression  of 
the  little  face  with  the  widely-opened  eyes  was  that  of 
great  satisfaction.  Laughing  appears  at  first  simply  as 
an  augmentation  of  this  expression  of  pleasure.  It  is 
often  repeated  in  the  same  way  in  the  fifth  and  sixth 
weeks — in  the  eighth  especially — at  the  sight  of  slowly- 
swinging,  well-lighted,  colored  objects,  and  on  hearing 
the  piano. 

The  child's  laugh  appeared  for  the  first  time,  in  the 
period  from  the  sixth  to  the  ninth  week,  as  a  sign  of  j  -y 


EXFRESSIVE   MOVEMENTS.  299 

at  a  familiar,  pleasing  impression,  his  eyes  being  fixed 
on  his  mother's  face.  But  the  laugh  at  the  friendly 
nodding  to  him  (p.  62),  and  singing  (p.  84),  of  the 
members  of  the  family,  was  then  already  much  more 
marked,  and  was  later  accompanied  by  rapid  raisings 
and  droppings  of  the  arms  as  sign  of  the  utmost  pleasure 
(sixth  month).  This  last  childish  movement  continued 
for  years  as  an  accompanying  phenomenon  of  laughing 
for  joy.  But  it  is  to  be  noticed  that  this  laugh  first 
began  to  be  persistently  loud  in  the  eighth  month  (in 
play  with  the  mother) ;  every  one  could  then  at  once 
recognize  it  as  a  laugh  without  looking  in  that  direc- 
tion. .In  this  the  child  made  a  peculiar  impression  of 
gayety  upon  every  one  who  saw  him. 

Loud  laughing  at  new  objects  that  please,  and  are 
long  looked  at,  is  still  frequent  in  the  ninth  month ;  so 
also  at  new  sounds  in  the  fifteenth  month  (p.  89) ;  then 
follows  laughing  at  the  efforts  to  stand  with  support. 
In  the  last  three  months  of  the  first  year,  however,  the 
character  of  the  laugh  appears  to  become  different,  as  it 
becomes  more  conscious.  The  child  laughs  with  more 
understanding  than  before.  But  he  with  a  laugh  grasps 
at  his  own  image  in  the  glass,  and  makes  a  loud  jubi- 
lant noise,  in  the  eleventh  month,  when  he  is  allowed  to 
walk,  although  he  must  be  held  firmly  when  doing  so. 
At  the  end  of  the  first  year,  to  these  independent  utter- 
ances of  pleasure  had  been  added  the  purely  imitative 
laughing  when  others  laughed.  Yet  self-consciousness 
manifested  itself  also  in  this,  through  vigorous  crow- 
ing with  employment  of  abdominal  pressure.  Roguish 
laughing  I  first  noticed  toward  the  end  of  the  second 
year.    Scornful  laughing  and  lachrymal  secretion  during 


300  THE    MIND   OF   THE   CHILD. 

continuous  laughter  I  have  never  observed  in  children 
under  four  years  of  age. 

From  the  sum  total  of  my  observations  in  regard  to 
the  smiling  and  laughing  of  infants,  it  results  unques- 
tionably that  both  are  original  expressive  movements, 
which  may  be  distinctly  perceived  in  the  first  month, 
which  by  no  means  take  place  the  first  time  through  imi- 
tation, and  which,  without  exception,  from  the  beginning 
express  feelings  of  pleasure  ;  in  fact,  my  child  laughed 
in  his  sleep  at  the  end  of  his  first  year  of  life,  probably 
having  a  pleasant  dream,  and  did  not  wake  on  account 
of  it. 

The  reasons  are  not  yet  known  why  feelings  of  pleas- 
ure are  expressed  just  in  this  manner — i.  e.,  by  uncover- 
ing the  teeth,  and  even  before  the  teeth  are  present,  by 
lengthening  the  opening  of  the  mouth,  along  with  lift- 
ing the  corners  of  the  mouth,  by  peculiar  sounds  and  a 
brighter  gleam  of  the  eye  (secretion  of  lachrymal  fluid, 
without  its  going  so  far  as  the  formation  of  tears),  and 
lively  accompanying  movements  of  the  arms  (p.  145). 
The  causes  must  be  hereditary.  But  Darwin  rightly 
urges  that  they  do  not  operate  so  early  as  the  causes  of 
crying  and  weeping,  because  crying  is  more  useful  to 
the  child  than  laughing.  And  if  he  saw  two  children 
distinctly  smile  for  the  first  time  in  the  seventh  week, 
we  ought  to  infer  from  that  not  so  much  a  failure  to 
notice  earlier  attempts  as  the  existence  of  individual  dif- 
erences.  That  he  perceived  the  first  decided  laugh  in 
the  seventeenth  week  shows  how  unlike  individual  in- 
fants are  in  this  respect.  Probably  much  depends  on  the 
surroundings  and  on  the  behavior  of  the  family.  But 
in  all  children  the  expression  of  pleasure  begins  with  a 


EXPRESSIVE   MOVEMENTS.  301 

scarcsly  perceptible  smile,  which  passes  very  gradually, 
in  the  course  of  the  first  three  months,  into  conscious 
laughing,  after  the  cerebral  cortex  has  so  far  developed 
that  ideas  more  distinct  can  arise.  In  the  second  month 
is  perceived  also  the  reflex  laughing  that  follows  tickling 
(p.  145)  which  I  could  besides  (in  the  third  year)  distin- 
guish almost  invariably  from  expressive  laughing  by  the 
sound  alone,  without  knowing  what  was  going  on,  al- 
though I  was  in  a  neighboring  room  when  I  heard  it. 
This  "  thoughtless  "  laugh  sounds,  on  the  contrary,  ex- 
actly like  the  child's  laugh  often  heard  continuously  at 
this  time,  wdiich  occurred  when  he  heard  and  saw  adults 
laugh  at  jests  unintelligible  to  him,  and  which  was  long 
continued  without  any  meaning  in  it.  Laughing  in- 
cites still  more  to  imitation  and  is  more  contagious  than 
crying.  The  laughter  of  man  seems  even  to  have  an 
enlivening  effect  on  intelligent  animals  (dogs),  which 
draw  the  corners  of  the  mouth  far  back,  and  spring, 
with  an  animated  gleam  of  the  eye,  into  the  air.  I  had 
a  large  Siberian  dog  that  laughed  in  this  manner.  It  is 
known  that  monkeys  also  laugh.  These  facts  favor  the 
hereditary  character  of  the  movement  of  laughing — 
all  the  more  as  tickling  of  the  skin  of  the  arm-pit  ex- 
cites laughing  in  children  and  monkeys  in  the  same 
way,  when  they  are  gay,  as  Darwin  informs  us.  But 
if  a  crying  child  is  tickled  in  the  same  manner,  it  does 
not  laugh. 

2.  Pouting  of  the  Lips. 

A  peculiar  expression  of  children  and  of  many 
adults  is  the  protruding  of  the  lips  when  the  attention  is 
strained.  I  have  seen  old  men,  in  playing  on  the  piano, 
and  in  writing,  protrude  the  lips  in  a  still  more  striking 


302  THE   MIND    OF   THE   CHILD. 

manner — even  putting  out  the  tongue — than  infants  that 
are  beginning  to  seize,  and  children  that  are  examining 
a  new  toy.  The  external  occasions  of  this  remarkable 
alteration  of  the  shape  of  the  mouth  may  vary  to  what- 
ever extent,  yet  they  all  agree  in  this,  that  after  the 
first  week  they  introduce  a  vigorous  strain  of  attention. 
Yet  the  protruding  of  the  lips  appears  long  before  the 
development  of  the  ability  to  examine  objects.  I  once 
saw  a  new-born  child  in  its  first  hour  of  life  protrude  its 
lips  which  were  as  yet  untouched  (p.  207);  but  this  pro- 
trusion was  without  the  movement  of  sucking ;  it  ap- 
peared along  with  many  other  movements  of  the  facial 
muscles,  and  I  should  be  inclined  to  explain  it  as  purely 
impulsive.  My  child  showed  it  on  the  tenth  day  of  his 
life,  distinctly,  in  the  bath,  when  there  was  a  lighted 
candle  before  him  ;  and  from  that  time  on  with  extraor- 
dinary frequency  until  his  fourth  year.  His  lips  were 
protruded  almost  like  a  snout,  as  in  sucking  (p.  98), 
then  drawn  back  and  again  protruded  (sixteenth 
month).  The  movements  of  the  tongue  exhibited  by 
many  children  in  learning  to  write,  were  not  observed  by 
me  till  much  later  than  the  protrusion  of  the  lips ;  they 
appeared  along  with  attempts  to  do  with  effort  some  new 
thing.  Here  it  is  worthy  of  notice  that  even  in  merely 
looking  at  an  object  without  taking  hold  of  it  himself, 
the  lips  are  pursed  (fifth  week,  p.  50,  and  seventh  week 
p.  45,  also  the  tenth  month,  p.  03) ;  later  more  protruded, 
when  a  testing  (forty-fourth  week,  p.  55)  or  inquiring 
observation  (forty-seventh  week,  p.  50)  is  combined  with 
touching,  in  which  the  aim  is  to  follow  a  moved  object 
in  various  directions,  or  to  put  an  object  in  motion  or 
turn  it  around,  to  empty  a  box  and  till  it,  or  to  open  and 


EXPRESSIVE    MOVEMENTS.  303 

shut  it,  or  to  put  a  number  of  small  objects  of  the  same 
kind,  e.  g.,  buttons,  into  rows  and  rolls  or  into  envelopes 
(first  half  of  second  year). 

In  this  the  protrusion  of  the  lips  is  quite  different 
from  the  pouting  of  sullenness.  The  protruded  lips  of 
the  cross  child,  resembling  those,  still  further  protruded, 
of  the  cross  chimpanzee,  which  I  observed  in  the  zo- 
ological garden  at  Hamburg,  as  Darwin  describes  it  and 
gives  a  picture  of  it,  appear  much  later  than  this  nar- 
rowing of  the  opening  of  the  mouth  that  is  combined 
with  prolonged  fixing  of  the  gaze,  and  that  lasts  (with 
children  not  yet  two  years  old)  several  minutes.  It 
looks  as  if  the  vowel  u  were  to  be  pronounced,  whereas 
the  children,  whose  hands  are  busy,  are  absolutely  si- 
lent. Whence  this  expression  %  I  will  try  to  give  an 
explanation  of  it.  That  this  excitement  of  the  facialis 
is  hereditary  is  a  fixed  fact ;  for  in  the  case,  very  care- 
fully observed  by  me — a  strongly  marked  case  too — it 
can  not  have  been  acquired  by  imitation.  My  child 
neither  associated  intimately  enough  with  other  children 
nor  saw  pursing  of  the  lips  in  the  adults  about  him,  and 
could  not  imitate  it  before  the  fifteenth  week  (see  p. 
283).  But  if  it  is  hereditary,  then  it  must  be  referred 
to  the  progenitors  of  man.  All  animals  direct  their  at- 
tention first  to  food.  Their  first  test  is  applied  to 
things  that  may  be  reached  with  lips,  feelers,  snout, 
tongue.  All  testing  of  food  is  attended  with  a  predomi- 
nant activity  of  the  mouth  and  its  adjuncts.  Especially 
in  sucking,  which  first  awakens  the  attention  of  the 
newly-born,  is  the  mouth  protruded.  Later,  when  new 
objects,  that  excite  the  attention,  come  within  reach, 
they  are  carried  to  the  mouth,  because  the  thing  that 


304  THE   MIXD   OF   THE   CHILD. 

was  alone  interesting  previously,  food,  came  to  tlie 
mouth.  The  inference,  that  what  is  interesting  belongs 
to  the  mouth,  is  first  shaken  by  the  experience  that 
many  beautiful  and  interesting  objects  do  not  go  into 
the  mouth  or  are  disagreeable  within  it.  But  the  associ- 
ation of  the  first  movement  of  the  mouth  arising  from 
sucking,  the  protruding  of  the  lips,  with  strain  of  the 
attention,  is  confirmed  by  too  frequent  repetition  of  the 
taking  of  food,  the  most  interesting  occurrence  to  the 
infant,  to  be  lost  as  quickly  as  is  the  carrying  of  new 
toys  to  the  mouth.  It  is  therefore  not  only  transmitted 
to  the  child,  but  often  remains  for  years,  even  into  old 
age,  and  manifests  itself  in  an  extremely  striking  fashion 
when  the  attention  is  on  the  strain,  at  anything  unusu- 
ally interesting ;  particularly  in  case  some  personal  ac- 
tivity, such  as  writing  or  drawing,  causes  the  strain. 

A  particular  kind  of  protrusion  of  the  lips,  different 
from  the  foregoing,  takes  place  in — 

3.  Kissing. 

This  belongs  to  the  very  late  acquired  expressive 
movements,  which,  in  general,  do  not  seem  to  be  in- 
herited. As  it  is  unknown  to  many  nations,  it  is  to  be 
called  conventional. 

How  little  the  child  understands  the  significance  of 
the  kiss,  although  it  is  kissed  by  its  mother  probably 
more  than  a  thousand  times  in  its  first  year,  is  plainly 
apparent  from  many  observations. 

A  little  girl  in  the  fourteenth  month  kissed  "  quite 
audibly  the  cheek  or  hand  (stroking  it  at  the  same 
time)  often  from  a  pure  fit  of  tenderness,"  but  many 
times  in  order  to  obtain  something  or  to  pacify  some 


EXPRESSIVE   MOVEMENTS.  305 

one.  In  the  fifteenth  month  this  child  kissed  her  mother 
one  day  twelve  times  in  succession,  entirely  of  her  own 
accord  ;  her  sister  kissed  her  mother's  hand  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  fifteenth  month  without  solicitation  some 
ei'u'ht  times  in  succession  ;  her  brothers  and  sisters  used 
to  kiss  one  another,  at  the  age  of  three  and  a  half  and 
one  and  a  quarter  years,  for  amusement  (Frau  von 
Strumpell).  Another  female  child  returned  a  kiss  from 
the  tenth  month  on,  without  any  movement  of  warding 
off  (Lindner) ;  all  this  was  learned. 

I  put  together  here,  in  brief  form,  some  notes  con- 
cerning my  child : 

11th  day. — When  the  babe  was  kissed  by  his  mother 
on  the  mouth,  he  fairly  seized  one  of  her  lips  with  his, 
and  sucked  at  it  as  if  he  had  got  the  breast,  putting  out 
his  tongue. 

32d  week. — The  child  no  longer  sucks  at  the  lips 
when  he  is  kissed,  but  licks  them  as  he  licks  objects  in 
general  that  please  him. 

33d  week. — When  he  is  kissed,  the  child  no  longer 
licks  the  lips,  but  allows  himself  to  be  kissed  on  the 
mouth  without  response  or  opposition.  In  the  follow- 
ing months,  also,  there  is  no  trace  of  an  attempt  to 
return  the  kiss,  although  signs  of  affection  are  not  want- 
ing. For  in  the  fifty-first  week  the  child  hands  to  his 
mother  the  biscuit  he  is  himself  about  to  eat. 

1.1th  month. — The  opening  of  the  closed  mouth  that 
takes  place  in  kissing  is  tolerably  well  imitated. 

13th  month. — The  child  has  absolutely  no  idea  of 
what  a  kiss  signifies.  Kisses  are  not  agreeable  to  him, 
for  he  always  turns  away  his  head  when  he  is  kissed,  no 
matter  by  whom. 


306  THE   MIND   OF   THE   CHILD. 

loth  month. — The  words,  "  Give  a  kiss ! "  produce  a 
drawing  near  of  the  head,  and  often  a  protruding  of  the 
lips.  This  proves  an  understanding  of  the  words  only, 
not  of  the  thing. 

19th  month. — When  strangers  want  to  be  kissed  by 
the  child,  he  holds  off ;  accordingly,  he  is  fastidious  in 
his  choice  in  regard  to  approach. 

Wth  month. — The  child  shows  by  touching  the  face, 
especially  the  cheek,  with  his  face,  that  proximity  has 
come  to  appear  to  him  as  essential  in  kissing.  Herein 
lies  already  an  imperfect  return  of  the  kiss.  The  child 
also  bends  his  head  when  some  one  says,  "  Kiss,*1'  toward 
the  face  of  the  speaker,  without  opening  the  mouth  as 
hitherto,  but  does  not  always  put  out  his  lips. 

23d  month. — The  child  now  knows  the  significance 
of  the  kiss  as  a  mark  of  favor,  and  is  fastidious  in  his 
choice  in  giving  a  kiss  as  he  is  in  giving  his  hand.  In 
kissing,  his  lips  are  put  forward  closed,  and  then  the 
mouth  is  somewhat  too  widely  opened  after  the  con- 
tact. 

31f,th  month. — The  feeling  of  thankfulness  is  awak- 
ened. When  one  has  done  something  to  please  the 
child,  he  sometimes  kisses,  and  has  a  gracious,  thankful 
air,  but  says  nothing. 

At  first,  then,  the  lips  of  the  mother,  when  she  kisses 
lier  child,  are  treated  like  the  finger  held  to  the  mouth, 
or  like  the  breast,  as  objects  to  be  sucked ;  then  they 
are  licked,  as  by  a  puppy ;  next,  the  kiss  is  endured ; 
further  on  it  is  refused  ;  soon  afterward  it  is  awkwardly, 
and  only  on  request,  returned ;  and,  finally,  it  is  spon- 
taneously given  as  a  sign  of  thanks  and  of  affection — 
and  this  by  a  boy  who  is  not  in  the  least  tender  and  is 


EXPRESSIVE   MOVEMENTS.  307 

not  trained.  Assuredly  this  tedious  schooling  in  learn- 
ing to  kiss  furnishes  the  best  evidence  how  little  justi- 
fied we  should  be  in  designating  the  kiss  as  an  hereditary 
privilege  of  humanity. 

4.  Crying,  Weeping,  and  Wrinkling  the  Forehead. 

It  is  a  fact  long  since  familiar  that  newly-born  and 
quite  young  babes  do  not  weep — i.  e.,  there  is  no  ex- 
ternal secretion  of  tears,  however  vigorously  they  cry. 
Later,  children  cry  and  weep  at  the  same  time,  and  can 
cry  without  weeping  (e.  g.,  in  jest),  but  not  till  much 
later  are  they  able  to  weep  without  crying  out. 

The  date  of  the  first  external  lachrymal  secretion 
varies  surprisingly  in  different  children.  Darwin  puts 
together  some  observations  on  this  point,  from  which  it 
appears  that  in  two  cases  the  eyes  were  wet  with  tears 
for  the  first  time  at  the  end  of  the  third  and  the  ninth 
week ;  in  another  case  tears  flowed  down  the  cheeks  at 
the  end  of  the  sixth  week.  In  two  other  children  this 
was  not  the  case  as  late  as  the  twelfth  and  the  sixteenth 
week ;  in  a  third  child,  however,  it  happened  in  the 
fifteenth  week.  One  of  his  own  children  shed  tears  in 
crying  in  the  twentieth  week,  but  not  yet  in  the  eight- 
eenth, and  in  the  tenth  the  eyes  were  moist  in  violent 
crying.  At  the  end  of  the  eleventh  week  with  this 
same  child  an  accidental,  rude  touch  of  the  eye  with  a 
rough  cloth  produced  a  flow  of  tears  in  this  eye,  but 
not  in  the  other,  which  was  merely  moist.  Champ- 
ney's  child  shed  tears  for  the  first  time  in  the  fourteenth 
week. 

I  have  seen  tears  flow  from  the  eyes  as  early  as  the 
twenty-third  day,  in  my  boy,  while  he  was  screaming 


308  THE   MIND   OF   THE   CHILD. 

lustily.  Soon  afterward,  crying  with  shedding  of  tears, 
and  whimpering,  formed  the  most  important  sign  of 
psychical  events  of  different  sorts. 

What  Darwin  reports,  that  usually  babes  do  not  shed 
tears  before  they  are  two  or  four  months  old,  is  not  true 
of  German  children  in  general.  Not  weeping,  but  sob- 
bing, comes  so  late,  and  even  later,  for  the  iirst  time ; 
and  some  causes  of  weeping,  as  willfulness,  grief,  anger, 
can  not  operate  at  first,  because  in  general  they  are  still 
wanting ;  whereas  pain  is  expressed  by  tears  from  the 
first,  when  once  the  secretion  of  tears  has  begun.  Yet 
it  is  easy  to  prove  that  little  children  in  the  second  and 
third  years  weep  much  more  easily  and  shed  more  tears 
at  impressions  that  cause  displeasure  than  do  children  of 
six  months  or  a  year.  I  suspect  that  in  this  matter  more 
depends  on  the  excitation  of  the  lachrymal  nerves  through 
emotional  cerebral  processes  than  upon  compression  of 
the  gland  in  screaming,  as  Darwin  thinks.  For  in  the 
first  place  there  sometimes  appears,  as  Genzmer  observed, 
in  children  just  born,  upon  touching  the  mucous  mem- 
brane of  the  nose,  "  an  increased  lachrymal  secretion," 
which  proves  that  through  excitement  of  the  nerves, 
especially  reflexive  excitation  (and  that  without  com- 
pression), lachrymal  secretion  may  occur  before  weep- 
ing ;  secondly,  tears  may  trickle  over  the  cheeks  in  great 
drops  without  any  compression  of  the  lachrymal  gland, 
without  screaming ;  and  in  the  second  year  also  appears 
ciying  without  weeping — that  is,  compression  of  the 
lachrymal  gland  without  lachrymal  secretion.'  My  child 
cried  in  his  sleep,  evidently  dreaming,  without  shedding 
tears,  and  without  waking,  as  early  as  the  tenth  month ; 
another  child  (Lindner)  in  the  eighteenth  week. 


EXPRESSIVE    MOVEMENTS.  309 

Of  crying — with  tears  (Schrei/weinen) — in  little 
children,  on  the  other  hand,  two  alterations  of  counte- 
nance are  extremely  characteristic,  the  observation  and 
explanation  of  which  offer  many  difficulties — viz.,  the 
drawing  down  of  the  corners  of  the  mouth,  and  the 
wrinkling  of  the  forehead. 

The  peculiar  form  of  the  mouth,  arising  from  con- 
traction of  the  depressors  of  the  corners  of  the  mouth, 
directly  before  and  after  a  fit  of  crying,  has  already 
been  spoken  of  in  the  description  of  childish  expressions 
of  discomfort  (p.  1-19). 

The  wrinkling  of  the  forehead  is,  indeed,  likewise 
observed  without  exception  in  crying  with  the  eyes  held 
tightly  together,  but  is  in  the  beginning  an  impulsive 
movement  frequently  occurring  without  a  fretful  mood. 
I  saw  it  on  the  first,  second,  sixth,  seventh,  tenth  days 
(cf.  pp.  2,  23,  36),  exactly  as  in  many  monkeys,  fre- 
quently appear  without  any  assignable  outward  oc- 
casion. On  the  contrary,  in  young  infants,  the  corru- 
gation of  the  forehead  is  lacking  just  when  we  should 
expect  to  perceive  it — judging  from  adults — e.  g.  (p.  24), 
at  raising  the  glance  (in  the  eighth  and  twelfth  weeks). 
It  is  surprising,  too,  that  in  the  first  two  weeks  the  hori- 
zontal corrugation  of  the  brow  appears  much  oftener 
than  afterward.  In  the  fourth  month  I  saw  for  the 
first  time  in  my  child  slight  horizontal  furrows  in  the 
brow  when  he  was  looking  upward,  but  in  the  third 
quarter  of  the  first  year  not  invariably  as  yet;  in  the 
last  three  months  invariably.  Distinct  vertical  furrows, 
which  lend  a  somber  expression  to  the  childish  physiog- 
nomy, are  always  present  in  crying  with  tears,  as  has 

been  mentioned,  but  often  occur  without  that  (plainly 
22 


310  THE   MIND   OF   THE   CHILD. 

in  a  boy  of  nine  weeks ;  in  my  boy,  in  the  seventh 
month). 

A  girl,  one  of  twins,  only  six  days  and  some  hours 
old,  was  seen  by  me  to  wrinkle  the  brow  twice  very 
decidedly — once  with,  once  without  a  simultaneous 
movement  of  the  skin  of  the  head.  The  mother  said, 
"  The  child  has  serious  thoughts."  And,  in  fact,  it 
looked  peculiarly  precocious,  to  see  the  skin  of  the  fore- 
head both  times  laid  in  deep,  parallel  folds,  which  ex- 
tended over  the  whole  breadth  of  the  forehead,  and  the 
face  take  on  a  very  serious  expression.  In  this  case,  as 
in  all  similar  cases,  it  does  not,  however,  appear  safe  to 
attribute  to  the  wrinkling  of  the  brow  the  significance 
of  an  expressive  movement,  because  the  psychical  states 
are  as  yet  wanting  that  are  expressed  by  horizontal  folds 
of  the  brow. 

The  distinct  wrinkling  of  the  skin  of  the  forehead  in 
astonishment  I  have  seen  for  the  first  time  in  the  twen- 
tieth month.  I  have  often  seen,  also,  when  new  tricks 
were  done  before  the  child  (in  the  fifteenth  month), 
the  characteristic  transverse  folds  as  an  accompanying 
movement  of  laborious  attempts  at  imitation.  Yet  we 
look  in  vain  for  physiological  explanations  of  these  facts. 
Darwin,  who  saw  his  children  wrinkle  the  forehead, 
from  the  first  week  on,  as  an  invariable  antecedent  to 
tearful  crying,  has  expressed  the  conjecture  that  this 
expressive  movement,  inherited  from  of  old  (contrac- 
tion of  the  corrugators),  originally  serving  to  protect 
the  eyes  when  impressions  were  to  be  warded  off,  was 
finally  associated  with  unpleasant  feelings  in  general. 
The  vertical  folds  that  accompany  effort  would  harmo- 
nize with  this,  but  the  transverse  folds  that  accompany 


EXPRESSIVE   MOVEMENTS.  3U 

astonishment  are  connected  with  the  wider  opening  of 
the  eyelids. 

That  a  purely  reflexive  corrugation  of  the  brow — 
the  vertical  folds — occurs  together  with  that  early  ex- 
pressive movement  in  the  first  days,  is  certain.  In  the 
fourth  year  I  saw,  moreover,  an  actual  contraction  of 
the  corrugators  of  a  child  fast  asleep  take  place,  some- 
times without  the  least  movement  of  the  eyelid,  when  I 
let  bright  lamp-light  fall  upon  the  closed  eyes,  in  a  place 
otherwise  dark.  The  sleep  was  not  interrupted  by  it, 
nor  even  the  snoring.  This  reflex  may,  like  the  screw- 
ing up  of  the  eyes  in  the  same  circumstances,  be  inborn, 
like  the  corrugation  of  the  brow  after  sound-impressions 
and  contact  in  the  first  week. 

5.  Shaking  the  Head  and  Nodding. 

Shaking  the  head  as  a  sign  of  denial  or  refusal  is 
in  like  manner  practiced  by  many  children  early,  with- 
out instruction  and  without  opportunity  for  imitation. 
A  forerunner  of  this  expressive  movement,  which  signi- 
fies dislike,  disgust,  much  earlier  than  it  does  denial,  is, 
as  Darwin  also  declares,  the  sidewise  movement  of  the 
head,  the  turning  away  when  food  is  refused,  whether 
the  breast  or  the  bottle. 

Much  in  the  same  way,  the  head  is  turned  to  the 
window  (p.  3)  even  in  the  first  days  (pp.  41,  42),  and 
th^n  toward  objects  moved  (pp.  48,  49),  but  with  a  con- 
tented expression  ;  later,  in  the  direction  of  a  new  sound 
(pp.  84,  85,  88).  In  general  I  found,  from  the  first  day 
on,  sidewise  movements  of  the  head  without  any  re- 
flex excitement  (p.  200)  frequently  in  my  child  (Von 
Amnion  is  wrong  in  the  opinion  that  the  infant  does 


312  THE   MIND   OF   THE   CHILD. 

not  move  the  head  at  all  in  the  first  days).  The  head- 
movements  are,  in  fact,  quite  lively  when  the  babe  is 
placed  at  the  breast,  or  is  in  the  bath,  or  is  lying  down. 
They  are  sidewise  movements,  not  nodding,  absolutely 
irregular  and  "  natural."  At  the  beginning,  however, 
the  turnings  of  the  head  are,  strangely  enough,  not 
always  in  harmony  with  the  movements  of  the  eyes 
(p.  36),  which  makes  them  seem  "  unnatural." 

Further,  I  saw  in  the  first  week  in  my  child  regu- 
larly, when  it  was  placed  at  the  breast,  a  vigorous  turn- 
ing sidewise  in  both  directions,  almost  a  shaking  of  the 
head  (cf.  pp.  153,  260).  On  the  eighth  day  of  his  life, 
when  he  for  the  first  time  took  the  breast  without  any 
help  whatever,  these  lateral  movements  of  the  head 
made  it  seem  just  as  if  the  child  were  trying  to  find 
something.  On  the  twenty-seventh  day,  however, 
they  took  place  just  the  same,  when  the  bottle  was 
put  directly  to  his  mouth ;  a  strange  association, 
caused  possibly  by  this,  that  in  the  very  first  days  the 
head  is  somewhat  directed  by  helping  hands,  so  that 
the  nipple  comes  into  the  mouth.  Later  the  head- 
movement,  that  has  been  always  followed  by  the  stream 
of  milk,  becomes  for  the  infant  a  necessary  preliminary 
condition  of  the  taking  of  food,  and  is  retained  by  him, 
although  in  connection  with  the  bottle  it  is  useless. 
Accordingly  we  have  here  not  a  case  of  an  acquired 
movement  of  the  head,  one  that  has  been  learned,  but 
an  instinct  that  occasions  the  head-movements  in  suck- 
ing at  the  finger  as  well  as  in  nursing  at  the  breast. 

It  has  been  already  mentioned  that  many  mammals 
likewise  move  the  head  vigorously  hither  and  thither 
when  they  begin  to  suck,  so  that  we  may  assume  an 


EXPRESSIVE   MOVEMENTS.  313 

hereditary  factor  in  mankind ;  the  more  so,  as  the  turn- 
ings of  the  head  were  to  be  observed,  very  vigorous 
even  in  the  eighth  week,  and  invariably  when  the  babe 
was  placed  at  the  breast,  several  times  a  day,  before  the 
nipple  was  firmly  grasped.  In  spite  of  the  great  haste 
and  greediness  in  sucking,  these  unnecessary  previous 
movements  were  never  forgotten.  They  are,  as  to  their 
causes,  different  from  the  reflexive  turning  of  the  head. 
When  any  one  seats  himself  at  the  bedside  of  the 
child,  the  child's  head  is  regularly  turned  toward  him 
(fifth  week).  This  is  followed  by  the  reflexive  turning 
around  at  new  sound-impressions  (eleventh  week),  and 
when  any  one  leaves  the  room  noisily  (twenty-second 
week). 

All  these  lateral  head-movements  are  not  in  the 
least  forerunners  of  the  denying  or  refusing  shake  of 
the  head — are  not  in  any  way  related  to  it  ;  although 
they  very  frequently  agree  with  it  perfectly  in  appear- 
ance, if  all  the  external  circumstances  and  the  physiog- 
nomy are  left  out  of  the  account.  The  manifold  variety 
of  the  lateral  turnings  of  the  head  in  the  infant,  from 
the  first  day,  is  astonishing.  And  yet  the  peculiar  turn- 
ing away  of  the  head  comes  in  as  a  well-marked  express- 
ive movement  as  early  as  the  fourth  day.  My  child 
refused  to  nurse  at  the  left  breast,  which  was  somewhat 
more  inconvenient  for  him  than  the  right.  He  refused, 
turning  his  head  away  decidedly  from  it,  and  on  the 
sixth  day  he  screamed  besides.  On  the  seventh  we  first 
succeeded  in  overcoming  his  opposition.  Yet  a  single 
averting  of  the  head  remained  as  a  sign  of  refusal.  It 
appeared  almost  invariably  after  the  infant  had  nursed 
his  fill  and  had  thrust  the  nipple  out  of  his  mouth — a 


314  THE   MIND   OF   THE    CHILD. 

thing  hardly  to  be  accomplished  by  a  reflex  mechanism 
(very  plainly  done  in  the  first  as  in  the  seventh  month). 
The  child  was  so  dominated  by  the  feeling  of  satiety 
that  food  was  repulsive  to  him. 

This  single  averting  of  the  head  to  the  left  or  to 
the  right,  according  to  the  position,  manifestly  means 
"  No  more ! "  is,  therefore,  of  the  nature  of  refusal. 
But  after  the  child  had  learned  to  balance  his  head 
there  came,  for  the  first  time,  numerous  and  very  rapid 
turnings  of  it,  exactly  like  the  shaking  of  the  head 
in  denial  by  adults  (in  the  sixteenth  week).  Then 
appeared  also  a  nodding,  but  more  seldom.  It  no  more 
signified  affirmation  than  the  lateral  turnings  in  that 
early  period  signified  denial.  This  is  rather  an  instance 
of  exercise  of  the  muscles  simply.  The  turning  away 
of  the  head  in  refusal,  when  the  child  had  drunk 
enough,  persisted.  In  the  sixth  month  arm-movements 
were  added,  which  seemed  like  movements  of  warding 
off,  without  my  being  convinced,  however,  that  they 
were  so.  Rather  was  it  many  months  before  the  ap- 
pearance of  unquestionable  arm-movements  of  ward- 
ing off,  such  as  take  place  in  the  case  of  adults  when 
something  is  held  before  the  face  too  long.  The  child 
that  does  not  want  the  offered  object  raises  his  arm 
side  wise  from  one  to  three  times  in  refusal,  and  turns 
his  head  away  toward  the  opposite  side.  This  deprecat- 
ing arm-movement  (distinctly  marked  in  the  fifteenth 
month)  may  well  be  an  acquired  one,  that  is,  imitated, 
as  we  may  attribute  to  the  child  at  this  period  a  capacity 
of  observation  that  would  suffice  for  this.  At  any  rate 
the  raising  of  the  bended  arm  is  not  in  the  beginning 
associated  with  the  turning  away  of  the  head,  and  the 


EXPRESSIVE   MOVEMENTS.  315 

nurse  may  in  like  manner  have  protected  herself  fre- 
quently when  the  child  has  put  his  hands  into  her  face. 
To  be  sure,  the  execution  of  a  defensive  movement  is 
quite  early  associated  with  an  idea  of  defense.  When 
the  boy  (in  the  eighteenth  month)  tries  in  anger  to  hit 
with  his  foot  some  one  who  has  refused  him  a  key  that 
he  wanted,  we  can  not  find  for  such  a  re-enforcement  of 
the  refusing  head-movement  any  model  that  he  has 
imitated ;  still  less  can  we  find  one  for  his  striking 
about  him  with  arms  and  legs,  throwing  himself  at  the 
same  time  on  the  iioor  and  screaming  with  rage  (just 
like  what  I  saw  in  the  case  of  a  chimpanzee  from  whom 
an  apple  that  he  wanted  was  withheld).  There  occur 
in  children  as  early  as  the  tenth  month  similar  fits  of 
rage  (p.  323),  in  which  the  face  becomes  red  in  case  their 
desire  is  not  complied  with  (Fran  von  Striimpell). 

Neither  is  the  half -closing  of  the  eyelid,  when  the 
head  is  turned  away  in  refusal,  to  be  traced  to  imitation. 
It  did  not  occur  invariably.  I  saw  it  in  the  eighth 
month  distinctly  in  my  boy  when  disinclination  was  ex- 
pressed. Especially  was  antipathy  (not  fear)  expressed 
by  such  turning  away  of  the  head  at  the  approach  of 
women  dressed  in  black,  no  matter  how  friendly  they 
were,  up  to  the  third  quarter  of  the  second  year,  and 
even  the  second  quarter  of  the  third  year. 

Long  before  this  period,  however,  a  repeated  turning 
of  the  head,  or  a  shaking  of  the  head  in  denial,  had 
arisen  out  of  the  simple  averting  of  the  head ;  this  came 
through  training.  It  appeared  mostly  in  the  thirteenth 
month  when  any  one  said,  "  No,  no  ! "  but  there  was  no 
nodding  at  the  "  Yes,  yes ! "  and  there  was  no  success  in 
imitating  nodding  in  the  fourteenth  month,  in  spite  of 


316  THE   MIND   OF   THE   CHILD. 

much  pains.  Afterward  the  imitation  often  succeeded 
(in  the  sixty-fourth  week),  but  the  nodding  of  the  head 
along  with  "  No,  no ! "  was  also  sometimes  observed, 
and  the  shaking  of  the  head  with  the  "  Yes,  yes !  "  the 
meaning  thus  being  confounded  (a  paramimy).  In  fact, 
it  was  months  before  the  meaning  of  the  affirmative 
inclination  of  the  head  was  firmly  impressed,  after  the 
negative  one  had  been  long  practiced.  When,  on  the 
four  hundred  and  forty -fifth  day  of  his  life,  the  first 
movement  had  been  correctly  imitated  for  the  second 
time — on  the  day  before  for  the  first  time — the  child 
made  a  peculiar  movement  of  the  hand  in  time  with 
nodding  of  the  head,  a  genuine  supination,  looking,  the 
while,  very  attentively  indeed  at  the  head  of  the  person 
before  him — an  unconscious  accompanying  movement, 
therefore.  That  the  inclination  of  the  head,  learned 
with  effort,  meant  "  Yes"  was  wholly  unknown  to  him  ; 
and  yet,  in  the  sixteenth  month,  the  negative  head- 
shaking  meant  for  the  child  not  only  "No,"  but  also  "I 
do  not  know,"  and,  in  the  seventeenth  month,  "I  do 
not  wish."  This  gesture  continued  now,  while  the  nod- 
ding of  the  head  in  affirmation  seldom  occurred,  unless 
it  was  specially  asked  for.  It  was  not  till  the  fourth 
year  that  an  affirmative  nod  of  the  head  meant  "  Thank 
you !  "  The  difference  is  the  more  surprising  as  both 
movements  have  been  frequently  regarded  as  original. 
But  children  use  the  voice  for  denying  and  affirming 
much  earlier  than  they  do  the  inclination  and  turning 
of  the  head,  and  this  whole  exposition  shows  that  these 
movements  have  not  from  the  beginning  an  antagonis- 
tic relation  to  each  other,  but  the  sidewise  turning  away 
of  the  head,  at  first  in  refusal,  later  in  denying,  is  in- 


EXPRESSIVE   MOVEMENTS.  317 

born,  reflexive-instinctive,  while  the  inclining  and  nod- 
ding of  the  head  in  affirmation  or  assent,  or  in  the 
expression  of  thanks,  which  appears  much  later,  must 
be  called  an  acquired  gesture  of  unknown  origin. 

6.  Shrugging  the  Shoulders. 

Little  children  show,  at  a  very  late  period,  a  quick 
raising  of  the  shoulders,  corresponding  to  the  shrug- 
ging of  the  shoulders  in  the  adult.  In  the  fifteenth 
month  I  saw  my  child,  without  any  assignable  cause, 
shrug  his  shoulders  for  the  first  time,  just  as  adults  do, 
only,  perhaps,  somewhat  more  quickly,  and  he  did  this 
in  similar  fashion  on  several  days.  For  a  moment  it 
seemed  as  if  the  child's  clothing  were  causing  a  disa- 
greeable irritation  of  the  skin ;  but  the  knowing  ex- 
pression of  countenance  did  not  at  all  harmonize  with 
this.  And  the  shrugging  of  the  shoulders  also  occurred 
when  I  stood  before  the  child  and  said,  "  Yes,  yes ! " 
As  I  had  nodded  then  affirmatively,  the  child  nodded 
also  (four  hundred  and  fifty-ninth  day). 

This  led  me  to  the  conjecture  that  the  shrugging  of 
the  shoulders  might  already  express  inability,  and  I  was 
soon  confirmed  in  this,  for,  on  the  following  day  even, 
this  gesture  was  the  answer  to  my  question,  "  Where  is 
your  ear  ? "  in  reply  to  which  the  child,  after  some 
hesitation,  touched  his  eye.  In  the  sixteenth  month 
this  signification  was  beyond  question  ;  for  if  I  ask, 
"  Where  is  your  eye,  ear,  nose,  forehead,  chin?"  and  the 
child  does  not  know  some  one  of  these,  then,  to  my  sur- 
prise, he  shrugs  his  shoulders.  At  the  same  date  there 
often  follows  upon  this  expressional  movement  another, 
of  waiting.     When  waiting — e.g.,  for  a  biscuit  dipped 


318  THE   MIND   OF   THE   CHILD. 

in  hot  water  to  become  cool — the  child  plants  both  arras 
at  the  same  time  symmetrically  against  his  sides,  in  such 
a  way  that  his  hands  come  against  his  hips  with  fingers 
bent,  the  back  of  the  hand  touching  the  hips.  The 
whole  attitude  is  that  of  waiting — not  in  the  least  of 
demanding — and  is  probably  imitated,  which  can  not  be 
said  of  shrugging  the  shoulders.  This  became,  more- 
over, in  the  second  quarter  of  the  second  year,  decidedly 
a  sign,  in  the  same  sense  as  a  shaking  of  the  head  in  de- 
nial, of  refusing,  and  of  not  knowing  and  of  not  being 
able.  It  must  be  counted  among  the  as  yet  inexplicable 
hereditary  expressive  movements.  Darwin  also  declares 
himself  in  favor  of  the  hereditary  character  of  the  move- 
ment, but  he  did  not  see  it  in  any  very  young  English 
child,  and  reports  it  only  in  the  case  of  two  sisters 
(grandchildren  of  a  Frenchman)  who  shrugged  their 
shoulders  between  the  sixteenth  and  eighteenth  months. 

7.  Begging  with  the  Hands  and  Pointing. 

Putting  the  hands  together  in  the  attitude  of  beg- 
ging belongs  to  the  earliest  gestures  of  German  chil- 
dren that  are  acquired  by  training.  This  movement  is, 
at  the  same  time,  one  of  the  first  of  which  the  child  un- 
derstands the  significance  as  language,  and  of  which  he 
makes  use.  He  soon  finds  that  the  begging  position  of 
the  hands  brings  him  the  desired  food  quicker  than  cry- 
ing, and  for  this  reason  he  makes  the  gesture  of  himself 
always  when  he  wants  anything,  whether  it  be  a  biscuit, 
a  toy,  or  a  change  of  place.  If  continued  crying,  for  a 
longer  or  shorter  time,  has  proved  wholly  useless,  then 
it  is  suddenly  discontinued,  and  the  child  hastily  puts 
his   hands   together   in   a   begging    attitude   (fifteenth 


EXPRESSIVE   MOVEMENTS.  319 

month),  in  case  this  childish  trick  happens  to  have  been 
previously  taught  him.  He  also  begs  in  this  fashion 
without  crying,  and  by  making  sounds  of  longing,  with 
outstretched  arms — e.  g.,  when  he  desires  the  repetition 
of  some  new  sort  of  fun.  When  some  one  had  poised  a 
spoon  on  the  end  of  his  nose,  the  (fourteen  and  a  half 
months  old)  child  laughed,  seized  the  spoon,  observed  it 
carefully,  put  it  from  one  hand  into  the  other,  and  then 
handed  it  to  the  person  with  an  indescribably  beseech- 
ing tone  of  voice.  Upon  the  repetition  of  the  experi- 
ment  he  was  again  delighted. 

Long  even  after  learning  the  significance  of  the  spoken 
"Bitte"  ("I  beg,"  or  "Please"),  which  my  boy  pro- 
nounced "  bibi  "  up  to  the  twenty-second  month,  the  ac- 
companying raising  and  holding  together  of  the  hands 
did  not  cease ;  and  what  was  especially  surprising, 
when  the  child  wished  the  continuance  of  a  sight  that 
pleased  him,  or  of  piano-playing,  or  when  the  railway 
train  in  which  the  child  was  traveling  stojjped,  then  he 
would  strike  his  hands  together  repeatedly  (twenty- 
third  month),  so  that  in  a  literal  sense  he  manifested  his 
applause  and  his  desire  for  repetition  or  continuance 
by  clapping  the  hands,  just  like  a  gratified  public  at  the 
theatre.  Nay,  even  in  the  tenth,  as  also  in  the  seven- 
teenth, month,  this  movement  took  place  in  sleep,  no 
doubt,  during  dreaming. 

It  seems  natural  to  assume  that  adults  utter  their 
applause  by  hand-clapping  for  the  reason  that  the  noise 
is  greater;  but  the  putting  of  the  hands  together  in 
prayer  in  Christian  churches,  as  well  as  the  lifting  of 
the  arms  in  prayer  by  Mohammedans,  agrees  with  the 
begging  gestures  of  children.     These  express  only  indi- 


320  THE  MIND  OF  THE  CHILD. 

rectly,  by  hand-clapping  and  also  by  noiseless  putting 
together  of  the  hands,  their  satisfaction  so  far  as  they 
thereby  beg  for  repetition. 

How  it  conies  about  that'  very  small  children  are 
artificially  taught,  along  with  the  "  giving  of  the  hand  " 
(even  in  the  twentieth  to  the  twenty-fourth  week  some- 
times [Lindner]),  to  raise  and  put  together  the  hands 
(not  the  feet),  when  they  are  to  beg  for  anything,  is  not 
hard  to  understand.  This  gesture  is  indeed  acquired 
by  each  individual  through  imitation  and  training,  but 
probably  has  its  foundation  in  this,  that  in  the  act  of 
seizing,  the  arms  are  extended,  and  the  hands,  when 
the  desired  object  is  grasped,  place  themselves  about  it. 
Begging  is  also  ultimately  a  desiring.  And  if  we  follow 
the  history  of  the  development  of  the  seizing  move- 
ments from  the  beginning  (p.  241),  we  are  easily  con- 
vinced that  the  arms,  which  must  be  extended  for  seiz- 
ing, are,  when  this  has  been  many  times  successful,  ex- 
tended in  case  of  every  strong  desire  (with  and  without 
sounds  expressive  of  desire),  because  the  thing  desired 
is  regarded  as  capable  of  being  seized.  What  I  have 
stated  as  to  the  interpretation  of  the  retinal  images 
(p.  G2)  confirms  this  view. 

At  first  the  child  expresses  his  desire  only  by  cry- 
ing ;  after  he  has  begun  to  seize,  also  by  stretching  out 
the  arms  (in  the  case  of  my  child  for  the  first  time  on 
the  one  hundred  and  twenty-first  day)  ;  then,  by  extend- 
ing the  arms  and  putting  the  hands  together.  These 
hereditary  expressional  movements,  originating  in  the 
practice  of  seizing,  are  made  use  of  by  educators,  in  or- 
der to  teach  the  praying,  begging  attitudes,  with  folding 
of  the  hands,  which  in  the  beginning  are  not  in  the  least 


EXPRESSIVE    MOVEMENTS.  321 

understood  by  the  child  ;  he  simply  finds  by  experience 
that  the  joining  of  the  hands  along  with  the  raising  of 
the  arms  is  sooner  followed  by  the  fulfillment  of  a  wish 
than  crying  is,  and  for  this  reason  he  adopts  the  gest- 
ure. When,  now,  with  the  development  of  the  faculty 
of  sight,  new  objects  that  can  not  be  seized  are  better 
distinguished  from  their  surroundings,  then  the  child 
manifests  his  lively  interest  in  them — especially  in 
moved  and  moving  objects,  e.  g.,  horses — by  this  very 
gesture;  he  opens  his  mouth,  breathes  loudly  by  starts, 
fixates  the  object,  and  stretches  out  his  hands  (eighth 
month).  Often  at  this  period  one  can  hardly  tell 
whether  the  child  means  to  seize  or  to  point.  When, 
before  he  can  speak,  at  the  question,  "  Where  is  the 
light  ?  "  he  turns  his  head  to  the  light,  he  thereby  shows 
his  understanding  of  the  question  as  to  the  direction 
(ninth  month) ;  but  when  (in  the  fourteenth  month)  he 
lifts  the  right  arm  besides  and  points  to  the  light  with 
outspread  fingers,  then  he  has  executed  the  gesture  of 
pointing,  absolutely  distinct  from  desiring. 

For  the  understanding  of  mental  development  it  is 
an  important  fact  that  this  pointing  is  already  employed 
with  perfect  correctness  before  the  first  attempts  at  ex- 
pression in  words.  A  little  girl  of  eleven  months,  who 
could  not  yet  speak  at  all,  answered  the  questions, 
"  Where  is  papa  ?  "  "  Where  is  Nannie  ? "  etc.,  correctly, 
without  a  single  mistake,  by  movements  of  the  eyes  and 
by  indicating  direction  with  the  finger  (Fran  von  Striim- 
pell). 

Later,  this  pointing  is  used  as  the  expression  of  a 
wish,  as  it  is  by  the  deaf  and  dumb — e.  g.,  my  boy  in 
the  ninetieth  week,  at  sight  of  the  milk-pitcher,  pointed 


322  THE   MIND   OF   THE   CHILD. 

at  it  with  his  hand,  and  directly  after  at  the  milk-bottle 
with  the  same  hand — in  fact,  to  my  surprise,  with  the 
forefinger,  the  child  "unmistakably  having  the  purpose 
of  getting  the  milk  poured  out.  Whence  comes  all  at 
once  the  use  of  the  forefinger  in  place  of  the  spreading 
of  all  the  lingers  for  pointing  %  Imitation  alone  hardly 
offers  sufficient  occasion  for  it ;  still  less  does  the  experi- 
mental touching.  Rather,  the  whole  complicated  com- 
bination of  "  fixating,"  opening  the  mouth,  raising  the 
eyelids,  lifting  the  arm,  extending  the  lingers,  must  rest 
upon  hereditary  co-ordination,  which,  in  case  of  hunger, 
has  showed  itself  useful  in  obtaining  food ;  so  that  point- 
ing is  thus  to  be  traced  back  to  wishing  to  seize.  As  is 
regularly  the  case  in  the  tenth  month,  so  in  the  second 
year,  often  the  desired  object  that  is  pointed  at  is  car- 
ried to  the  mouth,  and  as  much  as  possible  chewed  up, 
after  it  is  obtained. 

From  the  success  of  the  arm-movements  expressing 
desire  in  case  of  hunger,  soon  arises  the  notion  that 
these  movements  will  also  gratify  other  kinds  of  desire. 
Thus  the  child  (in  the  twelfth  month)  sitting  on  a  chair, 
when  he  desires  to  change  his  position,  stretches  out 
both  arms  longingly  (cries  if  no  attention  is  paid  to 
him),  and  rejoices  when  taken  up,  as  he  does  on  getting 
an  apple  or  a  biscuit,  In  such  cases,  not  unfrequently 
— e.  g.,  in  the  fourteenth  month — a  "paramimy"  is 
observed,  since,  instead  of  the  begging  position  of  the 
hands,  one  of  the  other  little  performances  acquired  by 
training  and  not  yet  understood  by  him,  is  executed — 
e.  g.,  the  hand  is  moved  toward  the  head  as  an  answer 
that  has  been  learned  to  the  question,  "  Where  is  the  lit- 
tle rogue  ? "  ( Trotzfcqpfchen,  "  headstrong  ").    Here,  with 


EXPRESSIVE   MOVEMENTS.  323 

tlie  experience  of  success  upon  stretching  out  the  hands 
blends  the  experience  of  the  agreeable  (of  friendliness, 
it  may  be — of  granting  his  requests)  upon  the  right  per- 
formance of  those  little  tricks.  The  likeness  of  the  re- 
sults leads  to  confounding  of  the  means. 

But  the  more  the  voice  is  differentiated,  so  much  the 
more  surely  is  a  sound  united  with  the  gesture  in  the 
first  three  months  of  the  second  year.  Thus,  with  the 
extending  of  the  hands  the  begging  sound  "hay-fak" 
(in  the  case  of  my  child)  was  joined,  this  being  associated 
with  the  look  and  the  forward  inclination  of  the  body, 
as  the  expression  of  the  strongest  desire.  But  it  passes 
away  and  is  lost,  since  with  the  growth  of  the  under- 
standing the  gestures  become  more  firmly  established, 
and  are  no  longer  confused  with  one  another.  Later 
still,  the  speaking  of  the  words  learned  takes  the  place 
of  the  gestures,  which  they  make  less  and  less  necessary. 
In  the  fifteenth  month,  by  striking  with  a  ring  I  made 
three  glasses  sound,  the  tones  of  which  formed  a  chord. 
The  child  was  pleased,  laughed,  and  when  I  paused, 
he  took  the  ring,  handed  it  to  me  again,  and  directing 
toward  the  glasses  his  arms,  eyes,  and  head,  announced 
with  his  own  peculiar  hay-uh,  his  wish  for  a  repetition. 
Here,  as  yet,  no  word-language  existed,  but  the  language 
of  gesture  could  not  be  misunderstood. 

When  no  response  is  made  to  a  persistently-expressed 
desire,  then  there  may  easily  happen  in  lively  children 
a  regular  fit  of  rage;  they  throw  themselves  on  the 
floor,  strike  out  when  taken  hold  of,  and  scream  furi- 
ously and  most  angrily  (observed  by  me  for  the  first 
time  in  the  seventeenth  month).  But  it  may  also  hap- 
pen if,  e.  g.,  the  child  pulls  some  one  by  the  hand  and 


324:  THE   MIND   OF   TEE   CHILD. 

wants  to  be  accompanied,  that,  on  being  denied  the  re- 
quest, the  child  sheds  tears  of  sorrow  in  place  of  being 
angry  (twenty-third  month).  The  spirit  of  invention 
may  also  be  aroused,  as  in  the  following  case :  The  child 
(of  twenty-two  months)  wishes  to  sit  at  the  table.  No 
one  listens  to  his  entreaty  or  takes  notice  of  his  implor- 
ing gesticulations.  Thereupon,  he  goes  into  the  corner 
of  the  room,  tries,  with  a  great  effort,  to  get  a  heavy 
chair,  does  not  rest  till  it  has  been  placed  at  the  table, 
strikes  with  the  flat  of  his  hand  on  the  seat  of  the  chair, 
thus  expressing  plainly,  without  words,  what  he  wants, 
and  exults  when  he  has  been  put  up  on  the  chair. 

Besides  the  expressive  movements  discussed  in  this 
chapter,  there  are,  in  early  childhood,  several  more  that 
deserve  a  thorough  investigation.  They  are  generally 
hard  to  describe,  however,  although  they  are  often  easily 
understood,  even  when  the  child  does  not,  as  yet,  speak 
a  word.  For  the  child's  attitude,  the  direction  of  his 
look,  the  movements  of  his  fingers,  in  varying  combina- 
tions, make  already  a  finely-developed  mute  language. 
Some  examples  may  illustrate  this. 

In  the  fourteenth  month  affection  is  expressed  by  a 
gentle  laying  of  the  hand  upon  the  face  and  shoulders 
[of  others] — this  movement  is  presumably  acquired  by 
imitation  ;  anger  and  disobedience  (willfulness)  by  very 
obstinate  straightening  of  the  body ;  this,  in  fact,  in  the 
tenth  month  even,  when  the  child  is  laid  down  ;  shame 
— when  he  has  soiled  himself — by  peculiar  crying,  with 
tears ;  pride  (in  a  new  baby-carriage  in  the  nineteenth 
month),  by  a  ridiculous  bearing.  The  variety  in  the 
expression  of  countenance,  when  in  the  second  and  third 
years  the  separate  passions  gradually  awake,  is,  however, 


DELIBERATE   MOVEMENTS.  325 

indescribable,  and,  on  account  of  the  transitoriness  of 
the  phenomena,  is  hardly  to  be  reproduced  pictorially. 
Jealousy,  pride,  pugnacity,  covetousness,  lend  to  the 
childish  countenance  a  no  less  characteristic  look  than 
do  generosity,  obedience,  ambition.  These  states  could 
not  be  recognized  by  the  expression  of  countenance  un- 
less each  of  them  had  its  own  expressional  movement, 
and,  in  fact,  these  movements  appear  in  greater  purity 
in  the  child,  who  does  not  dissemble,  than  they  do  in 
later  life. 

It  is  beyond  the  limits  of  this  work  to  trace  the  con- 
nection of  these  mental  states  with  the  play  of  feature 
and  with  the  growth  of  the  will.  Very  many  more  ob- 
servations must  be  instituted  in  regard  to  children  be- 
fore the  influence  of  imitation  and  of  inheritance  upon 
the  voluntary  inhibition  of  emotional  outbreaks,  and 
upon  the  voluntary  inducing  of  a  state  of  mind  at  once 
self-contented  and  not  disturbing  to  others  can  be  un- 
derstood. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

DELIBERATE    (uBEKLEGTe)    MOVEMENTS. 

That  it  is  a  very  long  time  before  we  can  perceive 
in  the  child  a  movement  that  is  independent,  proceed- 
ing from  his  own  deliberation,  follows  from  the  forego- 
ing chapters.  Before  motives,  i.  e.,  reasons,  for  move- 
ment can  be  added  to  the  purely  physical  centro-motor 
impulses,  to  the  peripheral  reflex  stimuli,  to  the  inclina- 
tion to  imitate,  to  instinct,  to  the  feelings  as  causes  of 
muscular  movements,  not  only  must  the  motor  experi- 
ences mentioned  have  been  had  countless  times,  but  the 
23 


326  THE  MIND  OF  THE  CHILD. 

senses  and  the  understanding  must  be  a  good  deal  devel- 
oped. For  lie  who  moves  no  longer  merely  in  direct 
dependence  on  his  temporary  feelings,  moods,  and  men- 
tal and  physical  states  in  general — he  who  represents  to 
himself  before  the  movement  how  the  movement  will  be; 
in  a  word,  he  who  acts  must  already  have  perceived  very 
many  movements  of  others  and  have  felt  very  many 
movements  of  his  own,  in  order  to  be  able  to  originate  in 
his  mind  a  correct  image  of  the  purely  voluntary,  delib- 
erate, or  intentional  movement  that  is  to  be  executed. 

I  should  not  be  able  to  name  any  movement  of  the 
first  three  months  to  which  this  necessary  condition  ap- 
plies well  enough  to  exclude  every  doubt  as  to  whether 
the  movement  might  not  be  instinctive  (and  therefore 
inherited),  or  reflexive,  or  impulsive. 

The  tactile  movements  with  the  hands — not  the  feet 
— that  occur  in  the  first  months,  and  have  the  appear- 
ance of  seeking,  are  just  as  little  voluntary  as  are  the 
later  pulling  and  scratching  at  the  skin  of  a  face 
touched ;  they  are,  as  belonging  to  seizing,  instinctive. 
Even  stamping  with  the  foot  (in  the  eleventh  month), 
pushing  along  a  chair,  at  the  same  period,  stretching  the 
body  out  straight  and  stiff,  as  means  of  preventing  being 
laid  down  by  force  (in  the  tenth  month),  as  well  as  the 
much  later  movements  of  throwing,  can  not  be  styled  in- 
tentional muscular  movements,  founded  on  independent 
deliberation.  Rather  do  some  plays,  which  are  not  to 
be  referred  either  to  imitation  or  instinct,  either  to  re- 
flex stimuli  or  emotions,  point  to  the  germination  of 
choice  and  deliberation  after  the  awakening  of  the  func- 
tion of  causality.  Thus  my  child,  in  the  eleventh  month, 
used  frequently  to  strike  a  spoon  against  a  newspaper  or 


DELIBERATE    MOVEMENTS.  327 

against  another  object  held  in  his  hand,  and  toexchange 
both  objects  suddenly,  moving  the  spoon  with  the  other 
hand,  which  gave  exactly  the  impression  of  testing 
whether  the  noise  proceeded  from  the  one  arm  only,  or 
would  arise  likewise  in  case  this  arm  were  motionless 
(p.  87).  The  restless  experimenting  of  little  children, 
especially  in  the  first  attempts  at  accommodation  (p.  54) 
[of  the  eye] — even  quite  insignificant  practices  (like  the 
crumpling  of  paper  from  the  third  to  the  sixth  month), 
are  not  only  useful  but  indispensable  for  the  intellectual 
development.  Moreover,  it  is  essential  to  consider,  in 
regard  to  the  cultivation  of  the  will,  because  thereby 
the  understanding  is  gradually  awakened,  how  ineffi- 
cient most  of  the  early,  unrepresented,  non-coordinated 
movements  were,  and  how  useful,  on  the  contrary,  are 
the  co-ordinated  movements  wTith  definite  aims.  Only 
when  both  occur  together,  the  representation  of  the 
movement  and  the  expectation  of  its  result,  is  deliberate 
movement  possible,  which,  unfortunately,  is  too  often 
prevented  through  training  from  showing  itself  early. 
Often  even  in  the  second  year  we  can  tell  only  with 
difficulty,  or  can  not  tell  at  all,  whether  the  child  acts 
independently  or  not — e.  g.,  when  (in  the  sixteenth 
month)  he  opens  and  shuts  cupboards,  picks  up  from 
the  floor  and  brings  objects  that  he  threw  down.  When, 
on  the  contrary,  at  this  period,  he  holds,  entirely  of  his 
own  motion,  an  ear-ring  that  had  been  taken  off,  to  the 
ear  from  which  it  was  taken,  I  am  inclined  to  see  in 
that  already  a  sign  of  deliberation — -understanding  and 
choice — whereas  in  the  mere  making  of  noise — it  may 
be  by  opening  and  slamming-to  the  cover  of  a  box,  or 
by  the  eager  tearing  of  newspapers — there  is  rather  the 


328  THE   MIND   OF   THE   CHILD. 

co-operation  of  pleasure  in  noise  and  movement  with 
gratification  in  the  putting  forth  of  power,  than  of  de- 
liberation and  choice.  Yet  it  seemed  to  me  worthy  of 
note  that  my  child  one  day  (in  the  fourteenth  month) 
took  off  and  put  on  the  cover  of  a  can  not  less  than  sev- 
enty-nine times,  without  stopping  a  moment.  His  at- 
tention, meantime,  strained  to  the  utmost,  indicated 
that  the  intellect  was  taking  part.  "  How  does  this 
noise  happen  ?  "  the  child  would  surely  have  thought,  if 
he  had  been  able  to  speak ;  for  he  often  enough  asked 
later,  "  What  makes  that  ? "  when  he  heard  a  strange 
noise.  But  even  the  child  not  yet  acquainted  with 
speech  might  think  thus,  like  an  intelligent  brute  ani- 
mal, only  the  latter  would  not  lift  the  cover  so  often  of 
his  own  accord. 

It  can  not  be  doubted  that  the  child  wills  and  thinks 
long  before  the  acquirement  of  speech ;  but  independ- 
ent activity  joins  itself  to  the  unintentional,  involuntary 
muscular  movements  quite  imperceptibly,  after  long, 
incomplete  manifestation  of  the  power  of  co-ordination. 
The  feelings  that  are  determinative  for  all  mental  devel- 
opment, feelings  of  pleasure  and  displeasure,  the  at- 
tempts to  seize  that  which  excites  desire — food,  above 
all — and  to  keep  off  that  which  causes  discomfort,  must 
be  looked  upon  as  starting-points  of  the  continuously- 
advancing  development. 

In  this  respect  the  history  of  the  development  of 
seizing,  which  has  been  portrayed,  is  a  contribution  at 
the  same  time  to  the  knowledge  of  the  development  of 
volition.  Especially  the  independent  taking  of  food, 
that  begins  after  the  first  attempts  at  seizing,  offers  in- 
teresting transitions  from  the  imperfectly  co-ordinated 


/ 


DELIBERATE   MOVEMENTS.  329 

to  the  perfectly  harmonious  movement  of  the  muscular 
apparatus  of  arm,  mouth,  tongue,  and  oesophagus.  I 
group  some  observations  concerning  this  point,  made 
upon  my  own  child,  which  show  that  the  will  is  present 
before  the  co-ordination  is  complete. 

5th  month. — Meat  offered  with  a  fork  is  seized  with 
the  hand  and  carried  slowly  to  the  mouth  ;  many  times 
incorrectly,  but  once  projjerly. 

9th  month. — Whatever  can  be  brought  to  the  month 
is  put  upon  the  tongue  with  astonishing  celerity.  In 
this  operation  fewer  errors  were  made  than  before. 

11th  month. — The  child,  every  day,  of  his  own  ac- 
cord, takes  a  biscuit  from  the  table  with  the  hand,  car- 
ries it  correctly  to  his  mouth — previously  he  often  put 
it  to  his  cheek  or  chin — bites  off  a  bit,  chews  it  tine,  and 
swallows  it ;  but  he  can  not  yet  drink  from  a  glass. 

lMh  month. — Very  seldom  is  there  a  failure  to  hit 
the  mouth  at  the  first  trial  with  the  biscuit.  At  the  be- 
ginning of  this  month,  too,  the  child  can  drink  from  a 
glass,  only  he  still  breathes  into  the  water  while  drinking. 

18th  month. — The  full  spoon  is  carried  to  the  mouth 
with  tolerable  skill. 

19th  month. — If  the  spoon  is  laid  on  the  left  side  of 
the  plate,  then,  after  a  little  consideration,  he  takes  it 
with  his  left  hand,  and  no  difference  is  noticeable  be- 
tween his  use  of  the  left  and  the  right  hand  in  eating. 

Wih  month. — The  child  carries  the  spoon  with  food 
in  it  to  the  mouth  more  and  more  cleverly,  quickly,  and 
surely.  For  all  that,  he  can  not  yet,  without  help  or 
guidance,  alone  take  food  with  the  spoon — can  not  get 
it  into  the  spoon.  He  does  not  always  bestow  attention 
enough  on  it ;  often  pauses  and  grasps  at  shining  objects 


330  THE   MIND   OF   THE   CHILD. 

of  all  sorts,  when  the  things  about  him  are  such  as  he  is 
not  accustomed  to. 

In  the  months  following,  the  child,  being  purposely 
remanded  to  his  own  resources,  perfects  himself  in  this 
line  of  action.  What  has  been  reported  is,  however, 
enough  to  show  that  intention  is  present  long  before 
co-ordination  is  perfected.  Will,  knowledge  of  conse- 
quences, representation  of  the  whole  movement — these 
are  clear  before  the  movement  can  be  correctly  executed. 
The  reverse  is  the  case  with  the  characteristic  pleasure 
taken  by  all  boys  in  throwing ;  they  hurl  all  sorts  of 
things  out  of  the  window  without  a  thought  of  the 
consequences. 

This  difference,  often  overlooked,  between  willed 
and  instinctive  movements  of  children,  may  be  demon- 
strated in  many  other  forms  of  movement,  especially 
if  the  manner  of  playing,,  or  the  occupation  from  day 
to  day,  from  week  to  week,  is  watched.  But  I  have  al- 
ready presented  so  many  particular  instances,  and  the 
observations  are  so  easy  to  make,  if  only  time  enough 
is  given,  and  if  several  normal  children  are  compared, 
that  it  seems  unnecessary  here  to  multiply  examples. 
Only  the  movements  of  the  tongue,  whicb  are  the  most 
important  sign  of  the  developed  will,  will  be  more  fully 
treated  as  the  foundation  of  learning  to  speak,  in  the 
description  of  that  process  (in  the  Third  Part). 

It  suffices  here,  in  order  to  ascertain  approximately 
the  date  of  the  beginning  of  the  manifestation  of  will, 
and  of  deliberation,  in  one  child  at  least,  to  put  to- 
gether some  of  the  movements  treated  in  the  previous 
chapters  with  reference  to  the  questions :  when  the  in- 
born  movements  are  no  longer  purely  impulsive ;  no 


DELIBERATE    MOVEMENTS. 


331 


longer  purely  mechanically  reflexive;  no  longer  purely 
instinctive;  and  when  movements  undoubtedly  willed 
appear  without  the  admixture  of  the  others. 

It  holds  good  universally,  that  'willing  can  not  take 
place  until  after  the  forming  of  ideas.  Up  to  that 
period  the  child  is  will-less,  like  an  animal  without  a 
brain.  After  the  beginning  of  the  ideational  or  repre- 
sentative activity  of  the  brain,  a  period  is  still  necessary 
for  the  association  of  the  idea  or  representation  of  a  move- 
ment and  the  idea  of  an  object  (desired)  as  the  aim  of 
the  movement.  In  this  period  of  transition — from  the 
incipient  causative  activity  which  changes  the  percep- 
tions arising  from  sensuous  impressions  into  ideas,  to 
the  combination  of  two  ideas — a  sensory  and  a  motor — 
fall  the  movements  of  the  infant  that  are  the  hardest  to 
understand,  those  that  have  still  a  mixed  character. 

The  following  provisional  synopsis  is  intended  to 
help  in  determining  the  limits  of  this  period  in  both  di- 
rections : 


MOVEMENT. 


Head-shaking 
Holding  the  head. 

Seizing 

Raising  the  upper 
part  of  body. 

Pointing 

Sitting 


Standing  . 


Walking 

Raising  one's  self. 

Stepping  over  a 
threshold. 

Kissing 

Climbing 


Jumping  . 


No  trace  ex- 
isting. 


10th  week. 
114th  day. 
12th  week. 

4th  month. 
13th  week. 

21st     " 

inth     lL 
13th     " 


65th     " 

11th  month 
24th(?)   " 

24thC')   " 


First  attempts. 


4th  day. 
11th  week. 
117th  day. 
16th(  ?)  week. 

8th  month. 
14th  week. 

23d       " 

41st      " 
28th      " 


68th 


12th  month. 
26th      " 


27th 


With  delibera- 
tion and 
effect. 


16th  week. 

16th  " 
17th  " 
22d 

9th  month. 
42d  week. 

48th      " 

66th  " 
70th      " 


70th 


23d  month. 
27th     " 


28th 


In  refusal. 


Lying  on  back  with- 
out help. 

Without  being  held 
in-  supported. 

Wholly  without 
support. 

Alone,  freely. 

Without  being  held 
or  helped. 

Without  support. 


Without  being  held 
or  helped. 


332  THE    MIND   OF   THE   CHILD. 

After  this,  will-power  begins  to  show  itself  in  co- 
ordinated movements  of  the  larger  muscular  groups  in 
the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  weeks ;  so,  too,  the  first 
imitations  (p.  283)  were  successful,  and,  for  the  first 
time,  his  own  image  in  the  mirror  was  regarded  with 
attention  (twentieth  chapter) ;  willed  contractions  of  the 
muscles  of  the  eye,  however,  take  place  somewhat  ear- 
lier (p.  46).  Unquestionably  deliberate,  voluntary  turn- 
ing of  the  gaze  to  new  objects  I  did  not  see,  indeed, 
until  the  sixteenth  week. 

Thus,  in  the  case  of  my  child,  the  only  one  as  yet 
regularly  observed  in  the  first  months  with  reference  to 
his  movements,  we  shall  have  to  postpone  the  beginning 
of  the  active  manifestation  of  the  will — i.  e.,  of  the  ac- 
tivity of  the  cerebral  cortex  in  the  co-ordination  of  the 
muscles  chiefly  used  later — to  the  fourth  month.  But, 
according  to  many  experiments  on  other  children,  this 
very  date  probably  holds  good  pretty  generally,  whereas 
later,  in  sitting,  standing,  walking,  climbing,  jumping, 
talking,  the  greatest  variations  as  to  time  appear. 

The  first  deliberate  movements  take  'place  only  after 
the  close  of  the  first  three  months. 

Were  there  still  need  of  proof  that  infants  can  not 
earlier  execute  voluntarily  any  movement  whatever,  on 
account  of  the  as  yet  insuflicient  development  of  the 
cerebrum,  it  would  be  furnished  by  such  facts  as  have 
been  observed  in  microcephalous  human  beings.  For 
in  them  the  cerebrum  remains  deficient,  and  the  will  is 
not  developed. 

But  that  deliberate  movements  are  made  at  the  be- 
ginning of  the  second  half-year,  is  proved  by  an  instruct- 
ive experiment  that  G.   Lindner  made  upon  his  little 


DELIBERATE   MOVEMENTS.  333 

daughter  of  twenty-six  weeks.  While  the  child  at  this 
agy  was  taking  milk  as  she  lay  in  the  cradle,  the  bottle 
took  such  a  slant  that  she  could  not  get  anything  to 
suck.  She  now  tried  to  direct  the  bottle  with  her  feet, 
and  finally  raised  it  by  means  of  them  so  dexterously 
that  she  could  drink  conveniently.  "  This  action  was 
manifestly  no  imitation;  it  can  not  have  depended  upon 
a  mere  accident ;  for,  when,  at  the  next  feeding,  the 
bottle  is  purposely  so  placed  that  the  child  can  not  get 
anything  without  the  help  of  hands  or  feet,  the  same 
performance  takes  place  as  before.  Then,  on  the  fol- 
lowing day,  when  the  child  drinks  in  the  same  way,  I 
prevent  her  from  doing  so  by  removing  her  feet  from 
the  bottle;  but  she  at  once  makes  use  of  them  again  as 
regulators  for  the  flow  of  the  milk,  as  dexterously  and 
surely  as  if  the  feet  were  made  on  purpose  for  such  use. 
If  it  follows  from  this  that  the  child  acts  with  deliber- 
ation long  before  it  uses  language  in  the  proper  sense, 
it  also  appears  how  imperfect  and  crude  the  child's  de- 
liberation is ;  for  my  child  drank  her  milk  in  this  awk- 
ward fashion  for  three  whole  months,  until  she  at  last 
made  the  discovery  one  day  that,  after  all,  the  hands 
are  much  better  adapted  to  service  of  this  sort.  I  had 
given  strict  orders  to  those  about  her  to  let  her  make 
this  advance  of  herself." 

Other  examples  of  deliberate  movements  made  be- 
fore the  ability  to  speak  exists  are  given  later,  in  the 
Third  Part.  To  this  category  belong  also  the  attempts 
at  imitation,  rare,  indeed,  but  well  marked,  that  are  ob- 
served in  the  fifth  month  ;  likewise,  the  first  imitations 
of  sounds  and  the  attempts  to  repeat  the  speech  of 
others,  of  which  something  will  be  said  farther  on. 


334  THE   MIND   OF   THE   CHILD. 

CHAPTER  XV. 

SUMMARY    OF    GENERAL    RESULTS. 

In  order  to  explain  the  formation  and  growth  of  the 
child's  will,  there  is  needed,  above  all,  a  careful  obser- 
vation of  the  muscular  movements  of  the  newly-born 
and  of  the  infant.  The  inborn  movements  of  every 
human  being  are  of  various  kinds,  but  are  of  the  same 
nature  a  short  time  after  birth  as  they  are  a  short  time 
before  birth — only  freer  than  in  the  embryo,  on  account 
of  greater  room  for  motion,  and  modified  by  respira- 
tion. 

These  inborn,  absolutely  will-less  movements  are  im- 
pulsive, when  they  are  conditioned,  as  in  the  embryo, 
exclusively  upon  the  organic  processes  going  on  in  the 
central  organs  of  the  nervous  system,  especially  in  the 
spinal  cord,  and  take  place  without  any  peripheral  ex- 
citement of  any  of  the  sensory  nerves.  To  these  be- 
long the  remarkable,  aimless,  ill-adapted  movements  of 
the  arms  and  legs  of  children  just  born,  and  their  grim- 
aces. All  the  motor  nerves  of  the  whole  organism  seem 
to  take  part  in  these  impulsive  muscular  contractions. 
The  opening  of  the  eyes  and  the  lateral  movements  of 
them,  the  rolling  of  the  eyeball,  the  closing  of  the  lid, 
and  many  contractions  of  the  facial  muscles  immediately 
after  birth,  prove  the  excitement  of  the  oculo-motorius, 
of  the  trochlearis,  of  the  motor-trigeminus  branches,  of 
the  abducens,  of  the  facialis ;  the  movements  of  the 
tongue  show  excitement  of  the  hypo-glossus ;  the  arm- 
and -leg-movements  show  excitement  of  the  spinal  mo- 


SUMMARY   OF   GENERAL   RESULTS.  335 

tors  without  any  assignable  or  admissible  peripheral 
stimuli. 

The  inborn  movements  are,  on  the  contrary,  reflex- 
ive when  they  occur  only  upon  peripheral  impressions, 
such  as  light,  sound,  contact.  In  these,  also,  most  of  the 
motor  nerves  seem  to  be  concerned,  and,  indeed,  in  gen- 
eral, in  the  manner  that  the  laws  of  reflexes  which  have 
been  found  in  brainless  animals  would  lead  us  to  ex- 
pect. The  reflexes  of  the  newly-born  are,  however, 
slower  in  their  operation  at  the  beginning  than  after 
frequent  repetition,  and  in  individual  cases  show  devi- 
ations from  the  condition  found  in  full-grown  men  and 
animals.  These  deviations  are  probably  to  be  referred 
partly  to  this,  that  the  reflex-paths  are  developed  to 
an  unequal  extent,  so  that  a  roundabout  way  some- 
times offers  less  resistance  to  the  reflex  excitement  than 
does  the  direct  way.  Hence,  perhaps,  the  contra-lateral 
reflexes.  From  all  the  organs  of  sense,  in  the  first  days, 
reflexes  go  forth — viz.,  from  the  optic  nerve,  auditory 
nerve,  olfactory,  gustatory,  the  sensory  branches  of  the 
trigeminus,  and  the  cutaneous  nerves,  upon  the  whole 
surface  of  the  body.  But  the  stimuli  must,  in  general, 
be  stronger  than  at  a  later  period,  or  (at  least,  in  the 
skin  and  retina)  must  affect  a  greater  number  of  ex- 
tremities of  nerve-fibers  simultaneously,  in  case  distinct 
reflexes  are  to  take  place.  The  reflex  excitability  of  the 
skin  of  the  face  is  relatively  greater  from  birth  on, 
than  that  of  other  parts. 

A  third  kind  of  inborn  movements  is  the  instinctive, 
which,  indeed,  likewise  occur  only  after  certain  sensory 
peripheral  excitations,  but  neither  with  the  mechanical 
uniformity  of  the  reflexes,  nor  with  the  constancy -of 


336  TIIE   MIND   OF   THE   CHILD. 

those,  even  when  reflex  excitability  is  present.  Rather 
is  there  need  of  a  special  psychical  condition,  which  may 
best  be  styled  "disposition  "  (or  "  tone").  At  any  rate 
there  is  required  an  activity  of  those  central  organs  of 
the  nervous  system,  through  which  feelings  have  their 
existence.  If  the  disposition,  or  the  feeling  is  wanting, 
then  the  instinctive  movement  is  not  made,  even  under 
the  strongest  or  most  appropriate  stimulus — as  in  the 
case  of  laughter,  when  the  sole  of  the  foot  of  a  child  in 
a  sorrowful  frame  of  mind  is  tickled  by  a  stranger.  A 
good  example  of  the  typical,  instinctive,  inborn  move- 
ments of  mankind,  is  presented  in  sucking.  With  this 
is  allied  licking.  In  new-born  animals,  especially  chick- 
ens just  hatched,  many  more  complicated  instinctive 
movements  appear,  however,  since  perceptions  produc- 
ing directly  a  motor  effect  are  followed  by  highly  ex- 
pedient co-ordinated  movements ;  especially  perceptions 
of  sight.  The  eye  of  the  bird,  during  the  whole  embry- 
onic period,  is  much  larger  in  proportion  to  the  brain 
than  that  of  man,  and  can  furnish  accurately  localized 
impressions  immediately  after  the  bird  is  hatched. 
These  impressions  are,  by  means  of  an  hereditary  mech 
anism,  at  once  (in  pecking)  turned  to  account,  and  there- 
by deliberate  movements  are  simulated.  In  fact,  how- 
ever, no  movement  of  a  new-born  animal  cr  child  is  de- 
liberate ;  none  voluntary. 

Willed  movements  can  not  take  place  until  the  de- 
velopment of  the  senses  is  sufficiently  advanced,  not  only 
to  distinguish  clearly  the  qualities  belonging  to  the  sepa- 
rate departments  of  sense,  not  only  to  feel  every  impres- 
sion, to  localize  the  sensation,  and  to  compare  it  with 
other  sensations,  to  note  its  antecedents  and  consequents 


SUMMARY   OF   GENERAL   RESULTS.  337 

— in  a  word,  to  perceive,  but  sufficiently  advanced  also 
to  recognize  the  cause  of  the  perception,  whereby  the 
perception  becomes  a  representation,  a  mental  picture 
or  idea.  "Without  the  power  of  representation  there  is 
no  will ;  without  the  activity  of  the  senses  there  is  no 
representation  ;  thus  the  will  is  actually,  inseparably 
bound  up  with  the  senses.  It  disappears  when  they  are 
extinguished ;  it  is  wanting  to  the  person  who  is  fast 
asleep. 

From  this  dependence  of  all  will  upon  the  senses,  it 
by  no  means  follows  that  a  developed  activity  of  the 
senses  invariably  brings  with  it  the  development  of  the 
will ;  on  the  contrary,  something  else  is  required  for 
that.  The  representations,  or  ideas,  formed  in  the  first 
months  of  human  life,  by  means  of  innumerable  percep- 
tions, must,  in  order  to  have  a  motor  effect  in  general, 
find  on  hand  a  large  number  of  movements,  upon  which 
they  now  operate  with  determinative  force.  It  is  only 
upon  the  central  sources  of  the  motor  nerves,  which 
have  for  a  long  time  and  often  been  excited,  impul- 
sively and  reflexively  or  instinctively,  that  an  idea  can 
operate  to  co-ordinate  or  to  modify.  And  this  motor 
influence  of  ideas  is  greatest  when  the  idea  itself  is 
that  of  a  movement,  particularly  that  of  a  movement 
leading  to  a  desired  object  or  a  goal  striven  for.  Only 
after  the  lapse  of  the  first  three  months  do  such  willed 
movements  take  place ;  but  not  in  such  a  way  as  if  a 
wholly  new  psychical  agency  suddenly  appeared  in  the 
child  as  by  inspiration  ;  rather  does  the  development 
of  the  will  go  on  very  gradually.  Only  to  the  spectator 
the  transition  seems  sudden,  from  the  will-less  child  to 
the  child  that  wills,  if  he  observes  seldom.     The  first 


338  THE   MIND   OF   THE   CHILD. 

successful  combination  of  a  motor  idea  with  the  idea  of 
an  object  or  an  aim,  as  in  the  case  of  the  first  successful 
attempt  to  seize — that  is  what  seems  sudden.  But  what 
is  surprising  here  is  the  result,  because  that  was  wanting 
before  in  the  numerous  similar  attempts.  In  fact,  both 
the  movements  that  are  now  willed,  and  the  perceptions 
that  also  become  willed  later,  were  long  ago  and  often 
made ;  at  first  without  being  willed,  as  a  result  of  the 
heightened  excitability  of  the  central  organs  of  the  nerv- 
ous system,  and  of  the  increasing  paths  of  association  ; 
then  each  one  for  itself,  which  gave  rise  to  ideas;  and 
finally  both  together.  The  movement  itself  runs  the 
same  course  in  both  cases.  The  willing  of  the  move- 
ment is  merely  the  willing  of  one  of  the  impulses,  as 
W.  Gude  well  observes ;  one  of  the  impulses  that  the 
child  has  already  often  allowed  to  operate  in  himself  or 
that  he  had  to  let  operate.  But  all  this  is  true  only  of 
the  first  act  of  willing. 

After  the  child,  in  the  second  three  months,  has  be- 
gun to  execute  willed  movements  in  greater  number, 
he  soon  finds  that  the  earlier  combinations  of  muscular 
contractions  no  longer  suffice  for  his  desires,  which 
have,  in  the  mean  time,  become  exceedingly  manifold. 
Hence  becomes  necessary,  on  the  one  hand,  a  separation 
of  nervo-muscular  excitations  hitherto  combined ;  on  the 
other  hand,  an  association  of  those  hitherto  sej)arated. 
In  this,  for  the  first  time,  is  manifested  the  direct  par- 
ticipation of  the  intellect  in  the  occurrence  of  voluntary 
movements.  The  ordinary  childish  performances,  the 
first  attempts  at  imitation  in  the  fourth  month,  and  the 
greater  independence  in  the  taking  of  food  (e.  g.,  tak- 
ing hold  of  the  bottle)  are  proofs  of  this  ;  but  the  essen- 


SUMMARY   OF   GENERAL   RESULTS.  339 

tial  character  of  the  will  is  not  to  be  found  either  in 
separation  alone,  i.  e.,  in  the  effort  to  make  muscles  con- 
tract separately  that  have  hitherto  always  contracted  to- 
gether, or  in  association  alone,  i.  e.,  in  the  effort  to  make 
muscles  contract  together  that  have  hitherto  always  con- 
tracted singly.  The  will  is  neither  co-ordinating  only 
nor  isolating  only,  but  both  ;  and,  what  is  most  fre- 
quently overlooked,  in  both  departments  it  performs 
nothing  absolutely  new.  As  Glide  has  shown,  it  can 
not  ucall  forth  primary  movements."  It  tinds  com- 
pletely co-ordinated  movements — inborn  ones,  in  fact — 
like  sucking,  swallowing,  already  on  hand,  as  well  as 
typically  isolated  movements — e.  g.,  the  lifting  of  the 
eyelid  with  the  look  downward — which  later  it  in  part 
can  not  call  forth  at  all,  in  part  can  call  forth  only  after 
an  enormous  amount  of  practice. 

In  this  important  fact,  that  the  will,  as  a  reciprocal 
action  of  motor  ideas,  can  alter,  isolate,  combine,  repeat, 
strengthen  and  weaken,  hasten  and  delay  existing  move- 
ments, lies,  at  the  same  time,  the  key  to  the  understand- 
ing of  the  difficulty  of  learning. 

On  the  one  hand,  the  abundant  material  of  inborn 
impulsive,  retiexive,  and  instinctive  movements,  which 
are  mingled  together  in  the  first  three  months  and  are 
influenced  by  the  increasing  activity  of  the  senses, 
favors  the  development  of  will,  since  it  alone  supplies 
the  requisite  representations  of  movement ;  on  the 
other  hand,  however,  this  very  material  renders  more 
difficult  the  manifestation  of  the  directing  power  of  the 
will.  For  the  more  that  certain  nerve-paths  have  been 
made  easily  passable  by  frequent  repetition  of  move- 
ments, the  greater  will  be  the  resistance  to  the  combina- 


340  THE  MIND  OF  THE  CHILD. 

tions  of  these  with  others,  and  to  the  employment  of 
isolated  tracts  ;  the  best  proof  of  this  is  furnished  in  the 
accuracy,  never  afterward  reappearing,  of  child/en's 
imitations  (in  the  fourth  year)  of  the  accent,  pronuncia- 
tion, intoDation  of  words  given  to  them  from  foreign 
languages  and  from  various  dialects  of  their  mother- 
tongue.  The  first  imitations  are  the  first  distinct,  rep- 
resented, and  willed  movements. 

In  order  to  give  accuracy  to  the  proposed  outline  of 
the  development  of  will  in  the  child,  we  have  yet  to  set 
forth  briefly  its  bearing  with  regard  to  four  problems. 
To  every  perfect  activity  of  will  are  indispensable  desire, 
muscular  sensations,  voluntary  inhibition,  and  attention. 

Desire,  in  the  ordinary  meaning  of  the  word,  pre- 
supposes ideas.  Therefore,  when  it  is  said  of  the  newly- 
born  that  it  desires  something  (or  even  that  it  is  search- 
ing for  and  wishes  something),  this  form  of  expression 
is  false.  The  child's  relatives  merely  infer  from  its 
movements,  attitude,  position,  situation,  a  condition  of 
discomfort,  displeasure,  or  discontent  (in  case  of  hunger, 
thirst,  wet),  and  out  of  their  own  subjective  state  reason 
to  the  existence  of  a  similar  objective  state  in  the  child. 
In  fact,  however,  the  behavior  of  the  newly-born,  like 
that  of  the  unborn,  is  intelligible  without  the  assump- 
tion of  any  mental  process  whatever  when  we  consider 
that,  with  the  greater  excitability  of  the  central  nervous 
organs  in  the  spinal  cord  and  the  medulla  oblongata,  not 
only  do  reflexes — after  refrigeration,  wet,  and  the  like 
— occur  more  easily  and  more  frequently,  but  instinct- 
ive movements  also,  like  sucking,  and  especially  im- 
pulsive movements,  are  multiplied,  e.  g.,  crying ;  but 
now,  in  the  case  of  hunger  and  other  disagreeable  states, 


SUMMARY   OF' GENERAL   RESULTS.  341 

that  excitability  is,  in  fact,  increased.  After  the  re- 
moval of  the  causes  of  the  discomfort  it  is  diminished, 
and  then  the  mobility  is  likewise  diminished.  Thus  the 
child  behaves  as  if  it  desired,  although  it  does  not  desire. 
But  the  repetition  of  the  alternation  of  great  mobility 
along  with  discomfort — less  mobility  along  with  comfort 
— during  the  first  days,  leaves  behind  in  the  central 
organs  traces  that  make  possible,  or  favor,  the  associa- 
tion of  the  remembrance  of  movement  with  the  sensu- 
ous impression  (milk,  warm  bath,  etc.)  that  relieved  the 
discomfort.  Then  the  thing  that  relieves  the  discom- 
fort is  perceived  and  represented,  and  now,  for  the  first 
time,  a  movement  of  "  desire  "  is  made. 

The  muscular  sensations  probably  begin  to  be  de- 
veloped before  birth,  with  the  movements  of  the  child. 
They  must  be  present  in  all  later  muscular  actions,  even 
the  purely  impulsive,  and  they  exert  their  influence  in 
the  performance  of  all  those  which  take  place  only  when 
a  psychical  factor  co-operates — hence  in  all  instinctive 
movements  and  all  represented  movements,  consequent- 
ly in  voluntary  ones  also ;  for  if  it  were  not  so,  then  it 
would  remain  incomprehensible  how,  in  the  successful, 
often  extremely  complicated,  harmonious  contractions 
of  the  most  different  muscles,  just  the  required  degree 
of  contraction,  and  no  more  than  this,  is  attained.  But 
from  this  it  does  not  in  the  least  follow  that  they  de- 
termine the  will  itself,  especially  as  they  do  not  regularly 
enter  into  the  consciousness.  They  belong  rather  to 
the  machinery  of  nervo-rauscular  excitement,  and  to  the 
impulse  to  it,  upon  which  alone  the  will  can  operate. 
They  remain  below  the  threshold  of  the  will  when  they 
do  not  generate  ideas. 
24 


342  THE   MIND    OF   THE   CHILD. 

The  voluntary  inhibition  of  a  movement  pre-sup- 
poses  willed  movements ;  it  therefore  appears  in  the 
child  only  after  well-advanced  development  of  the  rep- 
resentational or  ideational  stage.  It  is  based  on  an  ex- 
citement in  the  state  of  non-willing,  and  is  produced  in 
the  child  through  ideas  as  to  the  result  of  a  movement. 
When  the  child's  will  is  completely  at  rest,  the  rise  of 
no  movement  is  arrested  by  it ;  a  muscular  contraction 
may  occur  at  any  moment.  But  when,  in  this  state  of 
rest,  ideas  are  formed  wThich  prevent  the  motor  ideas 
awakened  by  sense-impressions  or  memory-images  from 
operating  on  the  motor  centers  of  highest  rank,  then 
this  state  is  called  voluntary  inhibition.  It  does  not 
come  to  a  manifestation  of  will — i.  e.,  in  this  case ;  the 
child  does  not  will,  because  in  him  an  inhibitory  process 
takes  place  that  neutralizes  the  motor  ideas.  When  he 
is  asleep  he  does  not  will,  because  there  are  no  motor 
ideas  and  no  inhibitory  ones.  I  understand  by  ideas 
here,  as  always,  psychical  facts  that  are  bound  up  with 
organic  processes  in  the  ganglionic  cells  of  the  cere- 
brum, and  are,  in  part,  causes  of  movements,  in  so  far 
as  the  nerve  excitations,  by  means  of  connecting  fibers 
and  intermediate  ganglionic  cells,  reach  the  motor  cen- 
ters of  lower  rank.  Through  this,  the  voluntary  inhibi- 
tion of  many  reflexes  also  is  then  made  possible.  The 
simplest  represented  movement,  Viz.,  the  first  imitation, 
requires  this  co-operation  of  the  cerebrum  no  less  than 
it  requires  attention. 

The  attention  of  the  child  and  of  the  adult  is  either 
compulsory — aroused  by  strong  sense-impressions — or 
voluntary.  In  the  first  case — which  happens  in  human 
beings  only  during  the  first  three  weeks — by  means  of 


SUMMARY  OF  GENERAL  RESULTS.  343 

a  reflex  movement  after  an  unexpected  stimulus  of 
sound,  of  light,  or  other  sensuous  stimulus,  a  feeling  is 
generated  that  is  immediately,  or  after  several  repeti- 
tions, distinguished  as  a  feeling  of  pleasure  or  of  dis- 
comfort. The  strong  feeling  leaves  behind  it  a  remem- 
brance, and  leads,  after  the  perfection  of  the  perceptive 
and  then  of  the  representative  aetivity,  to  ideas  (A)  of 
the  object  of  that  movement — i.  e.,  of  the  reflex  stimu- 
lus. If,  meanwhile,  the  co-ordination  and  separation  of 
the  muscular  movements  is  sufficiently  developed  so  that 
movements  can  also  be  brought  to  pass  through  motor 
ideas  (B),  then  the  latter  (B)  combine  with  the  former 
(A)  upon  the  object  in  question,  and  the  attention  is 
voluntarily  directed  to  it.  But  we  must  not  infer  from 
the  early,  isolated  symptoms  of  the  later  voluntary  at- 
tention— like  pouting  of  the  lips,  directing  the  gaze, 
cessation  of  crying  or  of  uneasiness — an  already  existing 
concentration  of  attention  ;  since  this  may  be  a  case  of 
the  supplanting  of  one  movement  by  another  without 
will.  The  following  of  a  moved  light  with  the  eye  in 
the  fourth  week  is  possible,  too,  without  the  co-opera- 
tion of  the  cerebrum  (p.  45),  whereas,  later,  it  is  precise- 
ly the  fixation,  for  the  purpose  of  seeing  distinctly,  that 
is  voluntary.  Not  till  the  seventh  week  (pp.  54,  142) 
and  the  ninth  week  (pp.  55,  84)  did  I  become  convinced 
that  my  child  was  actually  attentive — since  his  eye  fre- 
quently showed  a  peculiar  intensity  of  expression  in 
hearing  and  seeing — after  the  operation  of  strong  stim- 
uli ;  but  that  he,  of  his  own  motion,  turned  to  an  object 
and  lingered  on  it  attentively,  I  observed  first  in  the 
sixteenth  and  seventeenth  weeks,  when,  of  his  own  ac- 
cord, he  gazed  at  his  own  image  in  the  glass.     At  this 


3-J-4  THE   MIXD   OF   THE   CHILD. 

time,  and  much  later  still,  an  uninterrupted  strain  of 
his  attention  was  impossible  to  the  child.  His  atten- 
tion lasted  only  for  moments. 

Every  act  of  will  requires  attention,  and  every  con- 
centration of  attention  is  an  act  of  will.  Hence  an  act 
of  attention  without  an  accompanying  muscular  con- 
traction is  unrecognizable.  But  those  muscular  move- 
ments that  take  place  without  any  co-operation  whatever 
of  voluntary  attention,  are  void  of  attention,  either  for 
the  reason  that  will  is  still  wanting — in  the  tirst  weeks 
— or  for  the  reason  that  will  is  no  longer  required  to 
keep  in  operation  the  oft-repeated,  voluntary  movement 
— or,  finally,  because  the  will  is  inactive,  as,  e.  g.,  in 
sleep. 

In  conclusion,  in  regard  to  education,  which  always 
has  to  control  the  motor  ideas  of  the  child,  and,  in  case 
these  are  improper  ones,  to  substitute  better,  we  have 
especially  to  consider  the  weakness  of  the  will  even  in 
the  complete  waking  condition.  The  surprising  credu- 
lity, docility,  obedience,  tractableness,  the  slight  degree 
of  independence  of  will  in  young  children,  that  attests 
itself  besides  in  many  little  traits  of  character,  reminds 
one  of  the  similar  behavior  of  adults  in  the  mesmeric 
sleep.  For  example,  if  I  sa_y  to  my  two-and-a-half-year- 
old  child,  after  he  has  already  eaten  something,  but  is  jnst 
on  the  point  of  biting  off  a  fresh  piece  from  his  biscuit — 
if  I  say  categorically,  without  giving  any  reason  at  all, 
with  a  positiveness  that  will  tolerate  no  contradiction, 
very  loud,  yet  without  frightening  him,  "  The  child 
has  had  enough  now ! "  then  it  comes  to  pass  that  he  at 
once  puts  away  from  his  mouth  the  biscuit,  without  fin- 
ishing his  bite,  and  ends  his  meal  altogether.     It  is  easy 


SUMMARY   OF  GENERAL   RESULTS.  345 

to  bring  children  even  three  or  four  years  old  to  the 
opinion  that  a  feeling  of  pain  (after  a  hit)  is  gone,  or 
that  the j  are  not  tired  or  thirsty,  provided  only  that 
our  demands  are  not  extravagant,  and  are  not  pressed 
too  often,  and  that  our  assertion  is  a  very  decided 
one. 

In  this  weakness  of  the  child's  will  lies  also  the  rea- 
son that  little  children  can  not  be  mesmerized.  Their 
will-power  does  not  suffice  to  keep  their  attention  con- 
centrated persistently  in  one  direction,  which  i-:  a,  neces- 
sary condition  of  hypnotism. 

The  weariness  connected  with  the  strain  of  atten- 
tion makes  intelligible  also  the  rapid  alternation  of  the 
plays  of  the  child.  Through  too  frequent  yielding  in 
this  respect,  which  appears  unobjectionable  only  in  the 
first  period  of  play,  the  later  development  of  voluntary 
inhibitions,  upon  w7hich  most  depends  in  the  formation 
of  character,  is  rendered  essentially  more  difficult,  and 
caprice  is  fostered.  Exercises  in  being  obedient  can 
not  begin  too  early,  and  I  have,  during  an  almost  daily 
observation  of  six  years,  discovered  no  harm  from  an 
early,  consistent  guiding  of  the  germinating  will,  pro- 
vided only  this  guiding  be  done  with  the  greatest  mild- 
ness and  justice,  as  if  the  infant  had  already  an  insight 
into  the  benefits  of  obedience.  By  assuming  insight  in 
the  child,  insight  will  be  earlier  awakened  than  by  train- 
ing ;  and  by  giving  a  true  and  reasonable  ground  for 
every  command,  as  soon  as  the  understanding  begins, 
and  by  avoiding  all  groundless  prohibitions,  obedience 
is  made  decidedly  more  easy. 

Thus,  through  cultivation  of  ideas  of  a  higher  or- 
der, the  will  may  be  directed  even  in  the  second  year, 


346  THE  MIND  0F  THE  child. 

and  thereby  the  character  be  formed ;  but  only  through 
inexorable  consistency,  which  allows  no  exception  to  a 
prohibition,  is  it  possible  to  maintain  the  form  once  im- 
pressed upon  the  character. 

[The  third  part  of  this  work,  treating  of  the  Devel- 
opment of  the  Intellect,  together  with  supplementary 
matter,  is  reserved  for  another  volume  of  this  series. — 
Editor.] 


END   OF   VOL  L, 


SYLLABUS    OF 
PREYER'S  THE  SENSES  AND  THE  WILL 

From  the  International  Reading  Circle  Course  of 
Professional  Study. 


Pages  i  to  34. 

1.  The  fourfold  character  of  every  sense-activity. 

2.  The  distinction  between  the  adult  and  the  infant. 


3.  First  sensibility  of  the  child  to  light. 

4.  Evidence  of  inborn  reflex. 

5.  Difficulty  of  determining  when  colors  are  first  discrimi- 

nated. 

6.  Association  of  name  with  a  given  color. 

7.  Differences  in  ability  to  recognize  different  colors. 

8.  Asymmetry  of  muscular   movements  with  respect  to 

the  eyes. 

9.  Reflex  movements  resulting  from  fright  or  surprise. 

10.  Manifestations  of  pleasure  and  of  discomfort  by  wide- 

open  eyes  and  by  shutting  the  eyes. 

Pages  34  to  71. 

SIGHT. 

11.  Importance  of  accurate  and  repeated  observations. 

12.  Non-co-ordinated  movements  of  the  eyes  during  the 

earlier  days  of  life. 

13.  Influence  of  conscious  vision  upon  the  regulation  of 

eye  movements. 

14.  Successive  steps  in  the  fixation  of  sight  upon  particu- 

lar objects. 

(347) 


348  SYLLABUS   OF 

15.  Estimates  of  distance  in  relation  to  objects  near  to  or 

far  from  the  eye. 

16.  Question   as  to    children  being   near-sighted   or  far- 

sighted  at  first. 

17.  Danger  of  causing  near-sightedness  by  early  straining 

the  apparatus  of  accommodation. 

18.  Learning  to  interpret  the  field  of  vision. 

19.  Recognition  of  pictures  and  other  representations  of 

objects. 

20.  Comparisons  of  lower  animals  with  human  beings  in 

respect  to  early  development  of  sight  powers. 

Pages  72  to  96. 

HEARING. 

21.  Deafness  of  the  newborn  babe. 

22.  Difficulty   of  determining  when   sensations  of  sound 

are  first  experienced. 

23.  Various  forms  of  response  to  sound  stimulus. 

24.  Gradual  development  of  the  ability  to  distinguish  dif- 

ferent sounds. 

25.  The   child's    tendency    to    experiment    in    matters   of 

sound  production. 

26.  Observations  upon  the  lower  animals. 

Pages  96  to   140. 

27.  Response    of    the  newborn  babe  to  touch  sensations 

producing  either  pleasure  or  pain. 

28.  Apparent  indications  of  the  sensations  "  sweet  "  and 

"bitter." 

29.  Reflex   movements    caused    by    touch    upon   the  lips, 

nose,  face,  etc. 

30.  Lessened  sensibility  to  tactile  excitations  in  later  life 

than  in  the  earliest  days  or  weeks. 


PREYER'S  THE   SENSES   AND   THE   WILL.  349 

31.  Distinction  between   mere   sensation   of    contact    and 

perception  through  the  specific  sense  of  touch. 

32.  Time-association  of  sensations  more  readily  impressed 

than  place-relations  or  cause-relations. 

33.  Cause-relations  more  readily  forgotten  than  time-  or 

space-relations. 

34.  Varying  sensibility  to  differences  of  temperature. 

35.  Observations  to  determine  the  ability  to  distinguish 

different  taste  sensations. 

36.  Taste  the  earliest  sense  to  yield  clear  sense-percep- 

tions that  abide  in  the  memory. 

37.  The   capacity    to    distinguish    qualities   of    taste    evi- 

dently rests  upon  inherited  recollection,  or  instinct. 

38.  Evidences    that    sense-perception    is   not    necessarily 

related  to  a  knowledge  of  the  sense  organ,  and  that 
reasoning  processes  depend  upon  preceding  associa- 
tions. 

39.  Insufficiency  of  recorded  observations  concerning  the 

early  ability  to  distinguish  by  the  sense  of  smell. 

40.  Neglected  education  of  the  sense  of  smell. 

41.  The  sense  of  smell  a  more  important  power  of  the 

mind  in  brutes  than  in  man. 

Pages  140  to  186. 

42.  Lack   of  knowledge   concerning    physiological   condi- 

tions of  organic  sensations  and  emotions. 

43.  The  child's  conduct  is  determined  by  his  feelings  of 

pleasure  and  of  discomfort. 

44.  The    various    causes    of    pleasurable    emotions,    first 

negative,  then  positive  and  active. 

45.  Various  expressions  of  the  feelings  of  pleasure. 

46.  Unpleasant  feelings  more  frequent  during  the  earliest 

periods  of  life  than  at  any  later  periods. 


350  SYLLABUS   OF 

47.  Characteristic  expressions  of  unpleasant  feelings. 

48.  The  feeling  of  hunger  is  the  strongest  of  all  the  feel- 

ings in  the  young  infant,  and  is  the  most  definite  in 
expressing  itself. 

49.  The  feeling  of  satiety,  in  turn,  is  expressed  as  defi- 

nitely as  the  feeling  of  hunger. 

50.  The  feeling  of  fatigue  in   relation  to  the  experiences 

of  the  child's  waking  hours  and  to  his  sleep. 

51.  The  emotion  of  fear,  and  evidences  that  it  is  in  part 

due  to  hereditary  causes. 

52.  Astonishment  as  distinguished   from  surprise  and  as 

related  to  fear. 

53.  General  teachings  of  the  recorded  observations  upon 

the  development  of  the  senses. 


Pages   187  to  201. 

54.  The  first  expressions  of  will  to  be  recognized  in  move- 

ments. 

55.  The    mental    states    that    result    in   the   inhibition   of 

movements  distinguished  from  active  willing. 

56.  Four  forms  in  which  will-action  may  be  expressed. 

57.  Four  characteristics  of  direct  will-action. 

58.  The  power  of  inhibition  the  final  test  of  active  volition 

or  voluntary  movement. 

59.  Diagram  illustrating  the  interrelations  of  sensory  and 

motor  nerve  tracts. 

60.  Class  I.   Impulsive  movements,  wholly  unaffected  by 

sensory  excitations. 

61.  Class  II.    Reflex  movements,  responding  to   sensory 

excitation  through  the  lower  centers. 

62.  Class  III.  Instinctive  movements,  responding  to  sen- 

sory excitation  through  the  lower  sensory  and  emo- 


PREYER'S  THE  SENSES   AND   THE   WILL.  35J 

tional  centers  but  without  the  action  of  ideational  or 
volitional  centers. 

63.  Class  IV.  Ideational  movements,  responsive  to  sensory 

excitation  after  elaboration  in  the  ideational  center. 

64.  Note   the   omission   by   the   author   of    such    class   of 

movements  as  would  be  responsive  to  sensory  exci- 
tation passing  from  the  emotional  center  to  the  voli- 
tional (G  to  W),  and  thence  outward.  In  which, 
if  any,  of  his  four  classes  would  you  include  such 
movements  ? 

Pages  201  to  255. 

65.  Impulsive  movements  characterized. 

66.  Internal  cause  of  impulsive  movements. 

67.  Various  impulsive  movements  specified. 

68.  "Accompanying"  movements  analogous  in  respect  to 

internal  cause  to  purely  impulsive  movements. 

69.  Characteristic  reflexive  movements. 

70.  Association  of  many  reflexive  movements  with  the  re- 

spiratory apparatus. 

71.  Reflexive  movements  in  response  to  external  stimulus. 

72.  Evidences   of    the    early    inhibition    of   reflex    move- 

ments. 

73.  Inability  of  anatomists  to  determine  the  two  centers 

and  the  path  of  connection  involved  in  the  early  re- 
flex movements. 

Pages  245  to  281. 

74.  Instinctive   movements  must  be  studied   in  the  very 

young  child  if  studied  at  all. 

75.  Instinctive  movements  of  newborn  animals. 

76.  Hereditary  instinctive  movements  of  chicks. 

77.  The  infant's  act  of  seizing  is  instinctive. 


352  SYLLABUS   OF 

78.  Early  hand  and  arm  movements  that  are  not  instinc- 

tive. 

79.  Gradual  transition  from  instinctive  to  fully  voluntary 

action. 

80.  Instinctive  movements  with  the  lips,  teeth,  and  tongue, 

81.  Instinctive  movements  of  the  head. 

82.  Efforts  to  sit,  to  stand,  and  to  walk  are  instinctive. 

Pages  282  to  333. 

83.  Imitative  movements  give  evidence  of  the  activity  of 

the  higher  mental  powers. 

84.  Voluntary  imitative   movements  to   be  distinguished 

from  involuntary  movements. 

85.  Inaccurate    imitations   when    the    action    is   not    sim- 

ple. 

86.  Unsolicited  imitations. 

87.  Importance  of  surrounding  the  child  during  the  pe- 

riod of  most  active  imitative  efforts  with  such  asso- 
ciates as  will  supply  right  example. 

88.  Expressive  movements  arise  chiefly  from  imitation. 

89.  Play  of  features  due  to  mere  sensation  often  mistaken 

for  the  act  of  smiling. 

90.  Expressive  smiling  and  laughing  under  incitement  of 

pleasurable  ideas  apparently  of  hereditary  origin. 

91.  The  pouting  of  lips  and  the  protrusion  of  tongue  ex- 

pressive of  earnest  attention  or  effort. 

92.  A  protrusion  of  lips  as  indicative  of  sullenness. 

93.  Hereditary  origin  of  the  protrusion  of  lips  as  expres- 

sive of  attention. 

94.  Varying  relation  of  mind  to  the  act  of  kissing. 

95.  Crying,  weeping,  etc.,  hereditary  as  expressive  of  pain- 

ful emotions. 


PREYER'S   THE   SENSES   AND   TOE   WILL.  353 

96.  Expressive     movements     of     head,     shoulders,     and 

hands. 

97.  Deliberate  movements  necessarily  the  latest  class  of 

movements  manifested. 


Pages  334  to  346. 

98.  Careful  observation  of  muscular  movement  needed  in 

determining  the  growth  of  will. 

99.  Inborn   movements   are   impulsive    when    conditioned 

solely  upon  organic  processes  in  the  central  nervous 
organs. 

100.  Inborn  movements  are  reflexive  when  caused  by  ex- 

ternal impressions. 

101.  Inborn  movements  are  instinctive  when  caused  by  ex- 

ternal sensory  excitations  in  connection  with  activ- 
ity of  those  central  nervous  organs  through  which 
feelings  exist. 

102.  Willed  movements  are  not  possible  until  the  senses  are 

sufficiently  developed  to  produce  a  representation  of 
the  cause  of  perception. 

103.  Desire,  muscular  sensations,  voluntary  inhibition,  and 

attention  are  essential  to  a  perfect  activity  of  will. 


D.  APPLETON  &  CO.'S  PUBLICATIONS. 


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New  Volumes  in  the  International  Education  Series. 

DUCATION  FROM  A    NATIONAL  STAND- 

POIXT.      By   ALFRED    Fouili.ee.      Translated    and    edited, 

with  a  Preface,  by  W.  J.  Greknstreet,  M.  A.,  Si.  John's  Col- 

lege,  Cambridge  ;  'Head  Master  of  the  Marling  School,  Stroud. 

l2mo.     Cloth,  $1.50. 

FouilleVs  work  is  a  timely  and  valuable  contribution  to  the  discussions  of  some  o< 
the  important  educational  questions  that  are  at  present  claiming  attention  in  loth  this 
country  :md  Europe. 

(TYSEMTA  TIC  SCIENCE  TEACHING.     A  Man- 

^-J  ual  of  Inductive  Elementary  Work  for  all  Instructors  in  Graded 
and  Ungraded  Schools,  the  Kindergarten,  and  the  Home.  By 
Edward  Gardnier  Howe.     121110.     Cloth,  81.50. 

A  thoroughly  practical  and  reliable  guide  to  elementary  instruction  in  science  has 
long  been  a  desideratum,  and  this  work,  embodying  the  results  of  fourteen  years  of 
actual  classroom  tests,  will  satisfactorily  n  eet  such  a  demand.  The  volume  gives  a 
general  outline  of  work  for  the  first  three  years. 

"HE  EDUCA  TLON  OF  THE  GREEK  PEOPLE, 

and  its   Influence  on   Civilization.      By    Thomas    Davidson. 

121110.     Cloth,  $1.50. 

"  This  work  is  not  intended  for  scholars  or  specia'ists,  but  for  that  large  bcdy  of 
teachers  throughout  the  country  who  are  trying  lo  do  their  duty,  but  are  suffering  from 
that  want  of  enthusiasm  which  necessarily  comes  from  being  unable  cleat  ly  to  see  the 
end  and  purpose  of  their  labors,  or  to  invest  any  end  with  sublime  import.  I  have 
sought  to  show  them  that  the  end  oftieirwok  is  the  redemption  of  humanity,  an 
essential  part  of  that  process  by  which  it  is  being  gradually  eleiateil  to  moral  freedom, 
and  to  suggest  to  them  the  direction  in  which  they  ought  to  turn  their  chief  efforts.  If 
I  cm  make  even  a  few  of  them  feel  the  consecration  that  comes  from  single  minded 
devotim  to  a  great  end,  I  shall  hold  that  this  book  has  accomplished  its  purpose." 
— A  uthor's  Preface. 

HE  EVOLUTION  OF  THE  MASSACHU- 
SETTS PUBLIC-SCHOOL  SYSTEM.  A  Historical 
Sketch  in  Six  Lectures.  By  George  H.  Martin,  A.  M  ,  Super- 
visor of  Public  Schools,  Boston,  Massachusetts.  i2mo.  Cloth, 
$1.50. 

The  public  discussion  that  arose  from  Professor  Martin's  papers  upon  the  topic 
tr<-a'ed  in  this  work  will  make  the  complete  collection  of  the  essays  of  much  interest  to 
a  large  circle  of  readers.  In  the  present  volume  the  author  aims  to  show  the  evolu- 
tionary character  of  the  public-school  history  of  the  State,  and  to  point  out  the  lines 
along  which  the  development  has  run  and  the  relation  throughout  to  the  social  environ- 
ment, and  incidentally  to  illustrate  the  slow  and  irregular  way  by  which  the  people 
under  popular  governments  work  out  their  own  social  and  intellectual  progress. 


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New  York  :    D.  APPLETON  &  CO.,  72  Fifth  Avenue. 


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D.   APPLETON  &   CO.'S  PUBLICATIONS. 


YPNOTISM,  MESMERISM,  AND  THE 
NEW  WITCHCRAFT.  By  Ernest  Hart,  formerly  Sur- 
geon to  the  West  London  Hospital,  and  Ophthalmic  Surgeon 
to  St.  Mary's  Hospital,  London.  With  20  Illustrations.  i2mo. 
Cloth,  $1.25. 

"  Dr.  Hart  is  not  an  enemy  of  the  spiritual,  but  he  gives  ground  to  neither  the 
supernatural  nor  the  preternatural  when  he  can  help  it.  His  state  of  mind  is  generally 
impartial."—  Chicago  Post. 

"  Mr.  Hart  holds  it  as  proved  beyond  all  reasonable  doubt  that  the  hypnotic  con- 
dition is  an  admitted  clinical  fact,  and  declares  that  the  practice  of  hypnotism,  except 
by  skilled  physicians,  should  be  forbidden.  He  affirms  its  therapeutic  uselessness,  and 
condemns  the  practice  because  of  (he  possibilities  of  social  mischiefs.  .  .  .  His  per- 
sonal experiences  in  the  '  New  Witchcraft '  enable  him  to  exercise  a  critical  check  on 
the  wild  theories  and  unsupported  assertions  of  others." — Philadelphia  Ledger. 

MESMERISM,    SPIRITUALISM,    ETC.,    HIS- 

IVl  TORICALLY  AND  SCIENTIFICALLY  CONSID- 
ERED. By  William  B.  Carpenter,  M.  D.,  F.  R.  S.  i2mo. 
Cloth,  $1.25. 

' '  The  reader  of  these  lectures  will  see  that  my  whole  aim  is  to  discover, 
on  the  generally  accepted  principles  of  testimony,  what  are  facts  ;  and  to 
discriminate  between  facts  and  the  inferences  drawn  from  them.  I  have  no 
other  '  theory  '  to  support  than  that  of  the  constancy  of  the  well-ascertained 
laws  of  Nature." — From  the  Pre/ace. 


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PRINCIPLES    OF    MENTAL    PHYSIOLOGY. 

With  their  Application  to  the  Training  and  Discipline  of  the 
Mind,  and  the  Study  of  its  Morbid  Conditions.  By  William 
B.  Carpenter,  M.  D.,  F.  R  S.     i2mo.     Cloth,  $3.00. 

"  Among  the  numerous  eminent  writers  this  country  has  produced  none  are  more 
deserving  of  praise  for  having  attempted  to  apply  the  results  of  physiological  research 
to  the  explanation  of  the  mutual  relations  of  the  mind  and  body  than  Dr.  Carpenter." 
— London  Lancet. 

ATURE  AND  MAN:  Essays,  Scientific  and 
Philosophical.  By  William  B.  Carpenter,  M.  D.,  F.  R.  S. 
With  an  Introductory  Memoir  by  J.  Estlin  Carpenter,  M.  A., 
and  a  Portrait.      l2mo.     Cloth,  $2.25. 

"  Few  works  could  be  mentioned  that  give  a  better  general  view  of  the  change  that 
has  been  wrought  in  men's  conceptions  of  life  and  Nature.  For  this,  if  for  nothing 
else,  the  collection  would  be  valuable.  But  it  will  be  welcomed  also  as  a  kind  of 
biography  of  its  author,  for  the  essays  and  the  memoir  support  one  another  and  are 
mutually  illuminative." — Scotsman. 

"  Mr.  Estlin  Carpenter's  memoir  of  his  father  is  just  what  such  a  memoir  should  be 
— a  simple  record  of  a  life  uneventful  in  itself,  whose  interest  for  us  lies  mainly  in  the 
nature  of  the  intellectual  task  so  early  undertaken,  so  strenuously  carried  on,  so 
ample  and  nobly  accomplished,  to  which  it  was  devoted." — London  spectator. 

New  York :  D.  APPLETON  &  CO..  72  Fifth  Avenue. 


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L.brary  Bureau  Cat.  No.  1137 


